Out of the Frying Pan and Into the Fire
by Wildfire331
Summary: Teens Christina and Jack thought today would be completely ordinary-practice with Courtney at Jake's, food, play video games, crash on the couch. Their day-more like life-changes dramatically when they both have the same dream and wake up as completely different people in a whole new world-one that's not completely unfamiliar. Rated T to be safe.
1. Chapter 1

_Chapter 1: Who are we? _

_Christina's POV_

"Good work, Christina. Now you only have to do roundhouse kick and front kick and you're done with your black belt breaks!" Jake said, smiling encouragingly at me.

"Awesome. Can it be break time yet?" I panted, thoroughly exhausted after perfecting sidekick. It was hot for an autumn day, and Jake's backyard didn't have much shade. The fact that he chose to have us work in the sunniest spot isn't helping either…

"Sure. I'm kind of tired of holding up these boards anyways," he said cheekily, taking a swig if water from his plastic bottle.

"Jackass," I replied with a smile, punching him playfully in the arm while chugging my water.

"You know you love me," he singsonged, skipping horribly inside.

"I'll get back to you on that, pal," I grumbled, heading into his house and flopping on the couch.

"Black belt breaks going well, guys?" Courtney said, smirking at me as she leaned against the hall doorway.

"Only two left. Then we can work on both your extras," Jake answered his sister, earning a groan from both of us.

"Oh hell no! I'm only doing the five required ones!" Courtney said, tossing an energy bar at me and sitting next to me.

"Speak for yourself, Court. I would like to do some showy ones, but I'll work on those another time. I want to lie on my ass for a bit," I said as I flopped my head back and taking a lazy bite of my food.

"You can lie on your ass later. You only have two breaks left and Courtney only as one. We can do this!" Jake said, trying to remove us from the couch.

"Where does he get his energy?" I asked Courtney.

"No idea," the younger girl replied.

"Come _on_ you two! How do you expect to pass your tests if you can't even take the training?" he lectured, pulling us off the couch.

"Easy for you to say, Jake, you already passed," Courtney said, sitting back down once he turned to yank me up.

"Yes. I did that at 12. Two years younger than you, Chris, and at your age, Court. If I can do it, so can you," he said, trying to encourage us.

"Can we at least have lunch first? I'm _starving!_" Courtney moaned, clutching her stomach dramatically.

"Yeah! I'll make…something. I dunno, what do you want?" I said, jumping up.

"FISHSTICKS!" the siblings shouted, jumping around.

"Fine, greasy freezer food it is," I joked, heading into their kitchen.

_~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~_

"Almost there, Court! You can do this!" I said, coaching her.

She nodded, takes a deep breath, then punches the rebreakable board Jake and I held, nearly breaking it.

"Almost," Jake encouraged, slamming the board on the ground to shove the two pieced back together.

We take up position again and Courtney checks the distance. She nods once, bunches up her muscles, the punches the board, finally breaking it!

"Yes! You got it!" I cheered, hugging the smaller girl.

"Finally! I finally got it! Now I can take the test!" she cheered, hugging me back.

"Now, do it again. When you can do it five times in a row, we'll be done," Jake said, breaking up our celebrating.

Courtney nodded, and I went back to hold the board with Jake.

We repeated the process four more times, each one getting the same successful results.

"Good work, Court. Now its Christina's turn for roundhouse kick," Jake said while Courtney and I changed positions.

I nodded, then stepped into fighting stance and checked the distance. I took a deep breath, and then kicked the board with roundhouse kick as hard as I could. My foot went straight through and I ended up falling on the siblings. It was rather painful, landing on the jumble of knees and elbows.

"Sorry, my bad. I forgot to switch the boards," Jake apologized, untangling himself from the dog pile and heading over to where the rebreakable boards were placed, swapping the brown one for the black.

You see, I was training for my full black, which meant I had break three boards instead of two, which was what Courtney was doing to get her junior black. She was too young to even think about going for full, but my fifteenth birthday was in a few weeks, and I wouldn't have enough classes to test for another year.

"Try again," Jake commanded once he and Courtney were ready.

I stepped into position and checked my distance. Perfect. I took a deep breath, nodded once, then kicked the board. It sadly didn't break, and the force of my kick rebounded onto my foot, sending pain running up my leg.

I didn't wince, only put my foot back down and shook it out, thankful we decided to practice on the grass today.

"Again," Jake said, looking serious.

I took a deep breath; time to bypass my mental blocks and get this kick done.

I nodded then kicked the board suddenly with everything I had, breaking it.

"Good job, Chris!" Courtney cheered as Jake put the board back together.

"One down, four more to go. Nail it, Blue-Hair," Jake said, poking fun at my blue tips.

I stuck my tongue out at him, then checked the distance before kicking again, breaking the board a second time.

The next three times breezed by, each ending successfully.

"Great. I have just enough time to shower before Katie's sleepover. See you tomorrow, Christina!" Courtney said once we were done, heading inside to shower.

I helped Jake clean up before we headed inside, checking the time. Goody, 4:30. Thank all it was a Saturday.

"Where are your parents tonight?" I asked as I got us some water.

"Dad's working late tonight since the shop just reopened, and Mom is staying late at Katie's to help her mom control the girls," he said, taking a glass and chugging it, "We're on our own for dinner."

"Cold pizza, then?"

"Basically."

"Fun," I said, retying my ponytail.

We flopped on the couch and Jake tuned on the TV. A rerun episode of Pokémon Black and White was on.

"This show had gone to the dogs. Really, how does Japan expect us to believe Ash stayed 10 forever? He doesn't look it," I said dryly.

"I know right? The games are ok, the manga's great, but the anime's crap," Jake said in the same tone.

We watched the dumb as bricks, pre-pubescent boy run around with the flamboyant waiter who is probably a child molester, and the semi-smart typical teenage girl for a bit, before becoming bored of it.

"Let's turn this off," I suggested in a mono-tone.

"Yeah, that's a good idea," he responded.

Neither of us moved for about another hour. We just sat there and vegetated. Soon, we became hungry, so we shut off the TV and grabbed some pizza.

When we were done, instead of turning the TV back on, we picked up our DSiXL and began to play our game.

"Whatcha playin?" I asked after about another hour.

"Pokémon White. You?"

"Pokémon Black."

"We're such losers."

"Yup."

So we sat there, in Jake's den, playing Pokémon all night. We fell asleep at some point, still playing our games.

_Dream~_

_I was walking down a weird pathway with a bunch of seemingly random twists and turns. _

_I came into a clearing that was surrounded by willow trees, the ground decorated with soft grass and wildflowers. There was a soft yet menacing pure white light coming from the center of the clearing, which was oddly circular. _

_"What's that?" I asked aloud, even though no one was there._

_"I don't know. Let's check it out," a voice said. Weird thing was, it came from the light and beside me. It sounded familiar, but I couldn't place it._

_"It could be dangerous," I heard myself and a voice on the other side of the light say._

_"Come on, let's go! We'll never know unless we try!" the two voices said. _

_"Oh, alright," the voice from the light and I said together._

_I turned to my left and saw Jake, looking as confused as I was. _

_Despite our confusion, we both walked forward through the light and immerged in a new clearing in the woods. This one looked very similar, yet different for some reason. Before I could place it, the clearing faded to white._

_Dream end~_

"Urg, what was in that pizza?" I moaned, rubbing my head.

"I don't know. Hey, you sound different," a guy said.

"Jake? Is that you? You sound weird," I said, squinting at the boy beside me.

"Christina?! You look _and _sound different!" Jake said.

"You do too! You look like Black from the games!" I exclaimed.

"Well, you look like White!" he responded.

I looked down at what I was wearing. He was right! I was wearing White's combat boots, short shorts, white tank top, and black vest. Jake, on the other hand, was wearing Black's red shoes, dark grey jeans, black tank top, and grey and red cap. His hair was Black's style and color. His eyes, however, were the same shape as before. Just the color was changed.

My hands flew to my head, where they found a white and pink cap and a bushy brown ponytail. I grabbed the hanging curls in front of my face and saw they were a darker brown than before and that the blue tips that I had worked so hard to dye were gone!

Our shocked eyes met and the realization of our situation came over us. We were somehow transported into one of our games. We had no clue which one. We didn't know our names! We didn't even know where we were in the plotline!

"I hope we are still in the beginning," I said worriedly.

"Yeah. Because if we're not, then we're stranded who knows where with no money, no Pokémon, no food, no water, no nothing!" Jake said, beginning to panic.

"Our bags are empty?!" I asked, also beginning to panic.

"They're not even with us!"

With that, I began to swear colorfully for a full minute, never repeating myself once.

Once I had run out of colorful words, I took a look around. The clearing was the same as the ones in my dream, yet the trees surrounding it were oak, pine, and maple. Before I could ask Jake about it-and if he had a similar dream, we heard someone calling.

"Black! White! Are you out here?" a feminine voice called.

"Yes! We're over here!" I shouted back, hoping it was someone who could help.

"Hey, Cheren! I found them!" the voice shouted.

"Good work, Bianca!" a male voice shouted.

Soon, a bubbly blonde girl and a quiet black haired boy entered the clearing.

"Ohmygosh White! I'm so happy you and Black are ok!" the girl cried happily as she raced over and hugged me.

I laughed and hugged the girl back, hoping it was the right thing to do.

"Come on, Bianca. You're chocking her," the boy chided.

"Oh! Sorry White!" the girl-Bianca-said.

"Thanks for finding us, guys. We got kinda turned around," Jake-Black?-said, rubbing the back of his neck.

"It's ok Black. We got to get back soon or our parents will worry," the boy said.

"Alright! Let's go!" Bianca shouted, grabbing my hand and the boy's and dragging us out of the woods.

"Slow down Bianca!" the boy yelled, latching onto Jake.

"You speed up, Cheren!" she replied, running faster.

We got back to town pretty quick, thanks to Bianca pulling us.

"Alright, I'll see you guys tomorrow at White's place to get our Pokémon! Bye-Bye!" Bianca said, waving as she walked home.

"Yeah. See you guys tomorrow," Cheren said, walking away.

"What should we do, Christina?" Jake hissed.

"I don't know! But I think we should start calling each other Black and White so we don't screw up when we're with others," I whispered back.

"Good idea. Let's go to your place. Maybe your 'mom' will let me stay the night," he muttered.

"Alright."

And with that, we headed in the direction we hoped was my house.

End~

**A/N: Ta-da! Chapter one is done! We have met our heroes and already they've been thrown head first into the weirdness** **that comes from my brain! **

**So what did you guys think? Is it good? Bad? Awful? Give up now? Gimme yo feedback!**

**In chapter 2 we shall see what our heroes make of what they've been thrown into and see what conclusions they've drawn. **

**Kthxbai**

**~Wildfire**


	2. Chapter 2

_Chapter 2: Where are we and how did we get here?_

_Christina/White's POV_

"Hi Mom! I'm home!" I called as Jake/Black and I walked through the door.

"Hi sweetie. Hi Black, are you staying for dinner?" Mom said, coming out of the kitchen.

"Actually Mom, we were wondering if Black could stay over tonight, since the Pokémon will be delivered here in the morning," I asked sweetly.

"Sure! Black's always welcome here! Go run and get his bag for tonight and tomorrow and tell his dad. Dinner will be ready in an hour, so hurry," she said, smiling at us.

"Thanks! We'll be back soon!" Black said, and we raced out the door.

"Where's your house?" I asked after we got outside.

"I dunno, over there I guess," Black said with a shrug.

We headed over to the other edge of town and entered what we hoped was Black's house.

"There you are, Black! Oh, hello White. What are you doing here?" Black's 'dad' said, smiling as he hugged us.

"Hi Dad. I was wondering if I could stay at White's tonight. The Pokémon are being delivered to her place. I'll come back before I leave to say good-bye," Black said, smiling at his 'dad'.

"Sure! Grab a bag for tonight and your bag for tomorrow. I made sure you had everything while you were out," he said, smiling.

"Thanks Dad!" he said, then pulled me upstairs to his room.

I sat on his bed while he pulled a pair of pjs from a drawer and stuffed them in a small bag with clothes for tomorrow. He grabbed the bag that the male playable character carried in the game and slung it over his shoulder after he pulled on a blue jacket. I didn't bother looking around the room, since I'd probably never be in it again.

"Here, mind carrying this?" Black asked while tossing me his overnight bag.

"Nope," I said, popping the 'p' as I slung it over my shoulder.

We said bye to Black's dad and headed back to my place.

We went up into my room and pulled out a blow-up mattress for Black and set him up on the floor.

After Black was all set up, we sat down on my bed and started talking.

"Now that we know where in the plotline we are, now we have to figure out whose game we're in," Black said, wasting no time.

"There are simple ways to figure that out. When N challenges one of us in Accumula Town is one. If he challenges you, it's you game-or at least you're supposed to be the hero-and vice versa. When we get to Pinwheel Forest, we'll either see Cottonee or Petilil-Cottonee its Black, Petilil its White. Easy enough," I said, answering with a shrug.

"Right. I wonder if we can influence which one it is though…" he said.

"Maybe. Which game do you want it to be? And who do you think should be the hero?" I asked.

"Hm, well, it depends. If you're the hero, I would want the game to be Black, since you know its plotline and wouldn't screw it up. However, if I'm hero, I'd want it to be White for the same reasons," he responded.

"Right. Same here," I answered.

"I hope that we're in Black and you're hero," he said suddenly.

"Why?" I asked, giving him a weird look.

"Because whoever isn't hero should get Kyurem, and I like Kyurem more than Reshiram or Zekrom," he said.

"Really? Kyurem is cool looking and everything and you catch it at level 75, it isn't the best bet," I said, wondering what his logic is.

"According to Pokémon Marriland it's not the best bet, but I've been using it a lot and I've found ways to make the Ice Dragon even stronger than Reshiram and Zekrom," Black said proudly.

"That's awesome! I probably would have let you catch Kyurem anyway, since it kind of scares me," I said, rubbing the back of my neck.

"White! Black! Dinner's ready!" Mom called before we could continue.

"Coming!" I yelled back.

"We'll finish this later," Black said as we headed downstairs.

_After dinner~~_

"Thanks for dinner, Mom!" I said, smiling as Black and I cleared the table.

"No problem, White. I got the dishes, you two go have fun," Mom said, taking the dishes from our hands and beginning to wash them.

"Thanks!" we said, then raced back into my room.

"Alright, so how are we going to make sure you're the hero?" Black asked as we flopped onto my bed.

"No idea. I guess we just have to let whatever happens happen and hope for the best," I sighed.

"There must be _some _way to determine you're the hero!"

"What starter did you choose?" I asked suddenly.

"In my most recent play-through? A shiny Oshawott. I got lucky. You?"

"Oshawott too, although mine was female, not shiny. You lucky gosling, I've never gotten a shiny starter. The only shiny I've actually found and caught was a shiny Cottonee in my first play through. I did find a shiny Beldum in Diamond. But Michael got my DS before I could catch it and knocked it out."

"So there will probably be two Oshawott tomorrow; a shiny male and a normal female. Let's hope we get the right ones."

"Yeah."

"I wonder how we're going to work traveling…"

"Why don't we travel together?" I asked.

"Huh?"

"We could travel together. It would make sense, since we both have no idea how we got here and if one of us were to up and disappear, the other would spent the rest of their time here trying to find the one who went missing," I explained.

"That's not that bad of an idea."

"What are you kidding? It's a great idea!"

"Yeah yeah yeah. Let's go to bed, we get our Pokémon tomorrow," Black said, getting up and bringing his overnight bag into a bathroom.

I sighed, then dug through my drawers and pulled out dark pink sweat pants and a baggy white tee. I changed quick and tossed the clothes I was wearing into a mesh bin. I debated on if I should take my necklace off, before deciding not to for safe keeping.

I untied my ponytail and let my now chocolate brown curls float over my shoulders and down my back.

I checked my dark pink bag and saw everything I would need while traveling somehow packed into it. Pokémon space and dimension rules make no sense whatsoever.

Black soon came back from the bathroom and shut off the light before climbing onto his bed.

"Night Christina."

"Night Jake."

_~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~_

"Good morning, you two! It's time to get up!" Mom sang as she opened the curtains wide, throwing sunlight onto our faces.

"Alright, alright, I'm up, I'm up," I grumbled, rolling out of bed and onto an unsuspecting Black.

"Hey!" he yelped, shoving me off.

Mom laughed at us and said, "Pancakes will be ready in an hour. Take a shower and get dressed you two," before leaving.

"First shower! Called it!" I shouted, jumping up.

"Fine by me," Black groaned, sitting up and blinking sleepily at me.

I raced to my closet and yanked to door open. I grabbed a white tank top and a pair of slightly faded short shorts before running to my dresser and grabbing underwear. I ran into the bathroom and turned the shower on, locked the door, and striped off my pjs, leaving my necklace on the counter by my clothes.

I hopped in and washed my body and hair quickly. I then took my time conditioning my hair and shaving, savoring the warm water.

All too soon, I hopped out and dried my body off. I pulled my clothes on and brushed out my hair before pulling it back, two curls escaping to hang on the sides of my face. I growled and tried again, only getting them same results.

"Screw it, they can stay there," I grumbled before snatching up my necklace and putting it on.

I grabbed my clothes and exited the bathroom, depositing them in the laundry bin.

Black went in to take a shower while I hunted down my last pair of black and white socks and pulled them on. I then put on my black and pink combat boots, pulling my white and pink cap soon after.

I was just pulling my black vest when Black came out of the shower and began to put his socks and shoes on. His dark chocolate brown locks were all messed up; like he had rubbed his head with a towel then left it.

Before I could attack his head with a comb, he pulled on his hat.

We left our bags in my room and headed down for pancakes.

We were just about done when Cheren walked in.

"Hi Ms. Gemini, Black, White. Sorry if I'm early," Cheren said, pulling up a chair across from me and next to Black.

"Nonsense, Cheren, being early isn't a bad thing. Would you like some pancakes?" Mom asked, trilled to have a third kid around to mother.

"No, thank you. I've already eaten. Say, White, did the Pokémon arrive yet?"

"Yeah. They're up in my room. We can go up when Black and I are done eating," I said, popping the last bit of pancake in my mouth.

"Alright, let's go," Black said, swallowing the last of his pancakes.

The three of us trooped up into my room and sat on my bed, waiting for Bianca.

"Hey, White, we should brush our teeth," Black said after a few moments of silence.

"Yeah. We'll be right back, Cheren," I said before walking over to my bag with Black and extracting my toothbrush.

We went into the bathroom and brushed our teeth side by side, both wondering the same question; whose game were we in?

_~End_

**A/N: Chapter 2 is done! Our heroes have asked some pretty big questions, and seem rather confident that they can find the answers. Next chapter they get their Pokémon and have their fist battles before setting out!**

**This story will be following the plotline of the Pokémon Black and White games with a few minor changes. (clearly)**

**Anyways, what do you think? Is it good? Bad? Awful? Give up now and jump off a cliff? Gimme dat feedback!**

**Kthxbai**

**~Wildfire**


	3. Chapter 3

_Chapter 3: Lots and lots of 'firsts'_

_Christina/White's POV_

I placed my toothbrush back in my bag and sighed.

"Where is Bianca?" we all asked at the same time.

"I mean, really now. We've known for years she had no sense of time, but we're getting our first Pokémon today!" Cheren complained.

"You'd think she'd be on time for once, wouldn't ya?" Black said with a sigh.

"She better hurry up! I'm getting impatient!" I said, beginning to pace and almost knocking over my bookcase.

"No, White, sit down. You're going to break something," Black said, grabbing my arm and sitting me in the desk chair.

I grumbled and grabbed a random book, opening it to a random page. My annoyance of Bianca's lateness vanished as I realized what I was reading; a guide to the gyms, written by the "Yo, champ in the making" guy. He was basically going into detail of each gym and ways to prepare. I think he was sick of giving detailed help to challengers so he wrote a book or something.

"How can you be _reading_, White?!" Cheren said angrily, stopping his pacing.

"It's called taking your mind off what's going on, Cheren. You should try it sometime," I said disinterestedly, turning another page.

"I gotta agree with Cheren on this one, White. You're _reading_ on the day we're getting _Pokémon_ while Bianca's _late?!_ Who are you and what have you done with our friend?!" Black cried, exasperated.

"Yeah, I'm reading. And you're going to be grateful I picked this book up eventually, Black," I said, rapidly reading the section on Lenora's gym.

Black just sighed and began to go through his bag, seeing that I wasn't budging on this. Cheren growled something undeterminable, beginning to pace again.

_Cheren's POV_

Where was _Bianca?! _She's an hour late! White has decided to _read_, which is strange in itself, and Black gave up trying to get her to stop and is double checking his bag.

Something strange is going on with those two…I'm going to have to get to the bottom of it…

My train of thought was cut off by Bianca bursting into the room.

_Christina/White's POV_

"Hey guys! Soo sorry I'm late!" Bianca said as she walked into my room.

"Bianca…what time is it?" Cheren asked dangerously.

"9:35, just a little after when we said we'd meet," Bianca said, looking a bit confused.

"No, Bianca, it's 10:35. You fell back a week early, as usual. I'll fix your watch later," I said, saving the poor girl from Cheren's wrath.

Bianca looked apologetic, and Cheren glowered at me. I smiled cheekily back at them and put the book in my bag.

"Anyways, they were delivered to White's house, so she gets to pick first," Bianca continued.

"Black, you can choose next. But make it quick! I want to meet my Pokémon already!" Cheren said, his cool demeanor breaking in excitement.

"Ok," I said, walking forward to the box.

I read the card, then undid the ribbon and opened the box. Four shiny Pokéballs sat on the red velvet, each with its own card telling you what was inside.

I bypassed the Snivy that the card said to be female and the Tepig that the card said to be male, going right for the Oshawott. I looked between the two balls and their cards; the one on the inside said it was female and the one on the outside said it was male.

I took a deep breath and selected the one that said it was female and backed up a step with it.

Black moved forward next and claimed the male Oshawott.

Bianca rushed forward and said, "You two picked those and I choose this one. Cheren that means this is yours."

"Why did you get to choose my Pokémon? Never mind, I wanted Snivy from the start," Cheren said, picking the last Pokémon.

"Ok! Let's have a battle!" Bianca said.

"Bianca, you can't have a battle indoors. Even though they are weak, the Pokémon will destroy the room," Cheren chided.

"It doesn't matter! These little ones are weak, like you said, so they won't make that much of a mess. Alright White! Let's go!" she said, completely ignoring the be-speckled boy.

"Ok! Go Oshawott!" I called, tossing my Pokéball out, releasing the Pokémon.

"Oshawott!" the blue otter said, turning to me.

"Alright! Tepig, I choose you!" Bianca said as she tossed her own Pokémon out.

"Alright Oshawott, it's time for our first battle! Let's nail it! Use Tackle!" I said, pointing at Tepig.

"Osha WOTT!" she cried as she slammed into the pig. It went flying and landed on my bed.

"Tepig!" the other Pokémon shouted.

"Don't let them get away with that, Tepig! Use Tackle!"

"Dodge it, Oshawott!"

Tepig ran forward and Oshawott jumped onto my bed, causing the pig Pokémon to miss. They knocked into my desk, sending the PC screen into the wall.

"Tackle it, Oshawott!"

"You too Tepig!"

The two Pokémon ran right at each other and collided head on, falling back onto the TV.

Both fell back, but Oshawott stood up almost immediately while Tepig stayed down, knocked out.

"Alright Oshawott! You did it!" I cheered, racing to embrace the tiny Pokémon.

"Oshawott! Osha osha, wott!" she said, hugging me back.

"You did great, Bianca," I said, standing up holding my Pokémon.

"You did too, White," she said, smiling up at me while holding Tepig.

"Um, guys, look what you did," Black said from the sidelines.

We looked around and saw what the Pokémon did; the TV was knocked over, the desk the box was on was tipped over, my bed was all cock eyed, and my computer was on the floor.

"Oh my…" I said, taking in the state of my room.

"Your mom is going to be so mad," Black said.

"Well, Cheren, you and Black can battle now. I'm sure you two won't mess it up as bad as we did!" Bianca said with a laugh.

"Oh, ok. I'd be lying if I said I didn't want to battle," he said.

Bianca and I moved off to the side as we watched the two boys release their Pokémon. Cheren's Snivy looked very confident. Black's Oshawott looked the same, but something looked off about it for some reason.

The two battled very well, and they didn't make as big of a mess as Bianca and I did.

Black's Oshawott ended up winning, but just barely.

We went downstairs and apologized to my mom then everyone left to say good-bye to their families.

Mom gave me my cross-transceiver and told me she'd clean up.

I headed out and over to the lab to see Bianca was missing.

"I'll go find Bianca," I said, running towards her house.

I got in there just in time to see her dad tell her she couldn't go, even though Cheren, Black, and I were.

She walked over to me and pretended that whole showdown with her dad didn't happen, saying she'd meet me in front of the lab with the others.

"Bianca, wait! I gotta fix your watch!" I said, grabbing her arm to stop her from running off.

"Oh, right. Here," she said shakily, pulling off the bright pink Skitty watch.

I quickly changed the time, setting it five minutes early and not telling her. Now she might be on time one of these days.

"Thanks! See you at the lab, White!" Bianca called, racing out the door.

I quickly followed her out, forgetting her parents, and running at full speed back to the lab.

"Alright, now that we're all here, let's go in," Cheren said the second I arrived.

We nodded and filed in one after the other.

We stood in a line in front of Professor Juniper by what starter we chose; Cheren to the far left, then Bianca, then Black, then me.

"Hi there! I've been waiting for you young people! Let me introduce myself. My name is…" the professor began, only to be cut off my Cheren.

"Professor Juniper? We know your name."

"Oh, come on, Cheren! This is not the time to take things lightly. Today is a day to remember always, so it's best to behave with some formality. That being so, my name is Professor Juniper, and I am researching when and how the creatures called Pokémon came into existence," Prof. Juniper said.

She walked over and checked each of our Pokémon.

"Oh, that's unusual. You've already had a Pokémon battle," she said, looking at us oddly.

"Well, what do you expect? You give four teenagers Pokémon and the first thing they'll do is battle 'em, not run to the Professor like 10 year olds," I said with a smirk.

"Exactly! That's why your Pokémon have already began to trust you! Now, would any of you like to formally nick name your Pokémon?" she said while looking at each of us.

"Nah, I'll nick name them when I know mine better. Black?" I said, turning to my friend, not knowing how he operated.

"Same goes for me."

"I'll nick name you right now, Tepig! Hmm, how about Porky?" Bianca said, cuddling her Pokémon.

"Tep, Tepig!" her Pokémon cried, snuggling back, smiling

"I'll take a pass, thanks. If I want to nick name her, I'll do so on the road," Cheren said coolly.

"Alright then! I'm going to be giving you guys a Pokédex, a-," the professor began.

"High tech device that'll record every Pokémon we encounter and capture, tell us it's stats, a bit about the Pokémon, it's cry, and where to catch it," I rattled off in a mono tone.

"I see! You have studied quite a bit about this, haven't you White?" Prof. Juniper asked whist smirking at me knowingly.

"Erm, not really. It's kinda, ya know, common knowledge," I said awkwardly while rubbing the back of my neck.

"Ok! Now, do you all want to take the Pokédex and go on a journey?" the professor asked.

"Yeah!" Bianca chirped.

"Of course!" Black cried, fist-pumping.

"You bet!" I cheered.

"Naturally." Cheren said coolly.

"Alright then! I'll meet you guys out on Route 1 to show you something. Don't take too long!" she singsong, walking out the door.

"S-since the professor asked to do it, it's ok, right?" Bianca asked nervously.

"Of course," I said, slipping a comforting arm around her frail shoulders.

"Well, I'm off. You three better hurry," Cheren said breezily, waltzing out.

"R-right! See you guys!" Bianca said, hurrying out the door.

"We should go too, Jake," I said quietly as soon as the others we out of earshot.

"Yeah. I just can't believe this is happening. It's too real to be a dream," he said with a faraway look in his eyes.

"Yeah…"

"Let's go, Chris. We don't want the others to get too far ahead," he said, turning to me.

"Right," I responded, turning to walk side by side with him out the door.

As soon as we got outside, we ran into my mom.

"Oh, hi Mom," I said, looking shocked. I'd forgotten this part.

"Hi sweetie. I'm here to give you guys some town maps so you don't get lost," Mom said, winking in my direction. Did White-or I, I guess-have a bad sense of direction?

"That's great! Thanks Ms. Gemini!" Black said, eagerly taking one.

"Yes, thank you, Ms. Gemini. This will certainly be helpful," Cheren said, also taking one.

"Oh thank you so much Ms. Gemini!" Bianca said gratefully, taking one as well.

"Yeah, thanks Mom," I said, snagging the last one.

"No problem, kids! Have fun now!" Mom said, walking back home.

"Alright, I'll be off. See you at Route 1," Cheren said, walking off.

"Yeah, see you there White!" Bianca chirped, following Cheren.

"Well, I guess that's the way we have to go, then," I said, putting my map into my bag.

"Yeah, I think that's right," Black said uneasily, also putting his map away.

"Don't like not knowing where you're going, aye Jakey?" I teased as we walked down the road.

"No, not really. I just hope the Routes are the same as the game," he said, ignoring my lame attempt at a joke.

"They probably are, since we're _in_ the games," I said casually.

"You're probably right. Oh look, that didn't take much time at all. There's Cheren and Bianca," he said, pointing ahead at our friends.

"Hey White! Hey Black! Hurry up and get over here! We want to take our first steps onto Route 1 together!" Bianca called, waving us over.

We glanced at each other before running to catch up with them, forming a line.

"One…two…three…GO!" Bianca said; linking our arms and making us walk forward together.

We stepped onto the Route and my brain began to play the music, making me think it was playing in the background.

"Alright! Now that you're all here, I'm going to show you how to catch a Pokémon!" the Prof. said, stepping into the tall grass.

We followed her in, and only a few steps in, she encountered a Patrat.

"Go Minccino!" she called, releasing a small, gray furry Pokémon.

"Cino!" it called, landing nimbly on the ground.

"Alright, Minccino, use Pound!"

"Min…CINO!" it said, running forward and hitting the Patrat with a paw.

The small rat fell backward, before jumping up and leering at the Prof. Pokémon, making it coward slightly.

"Once more Minccino, Pound!"

The small chinchilla raced forward once more, attacking the wild Pokémon. The Patrat Tackled her back, sending her back to the Prof.'s feet.

"Alright, Pokéball, GO!" she called, pulling an empty Pokéball out of her pocket and tossing it at the wild Pokémon.

The Patrat disappeared into the red and white ball in a glow of light, making the ball shake a few times before clicking shut and releasing some small stars.

"And that's how you catch a Pokémon. Here's some Pokéballs, go try for yourself," the Prof. said, recalling her Pokémon and picking up the Patrat's Pokéball.

"Cool," I said disinterestedly.

"I'll see you up ahead in Accumula Town, where I show you the Pokémon Center. Try catching and training your Pokémon around here," she said, disappearing into the grass.

"Well, we should probably get moving. We don't want to keep the Professor waiting," Cheren said, starting to walk away.

"Wait! I know what we should do! We should have a contest to see who can catch the most Pokémon, including the ones we got from the professor," Bianca said, stopping Cheren.

"That's a good idea, Bianca. It'll fill up the Pokédex pages and it'll give us good practice," Cheren said.

"It does sound like a good idea," Black commented.

"I'm in," I said, throwing in my two cents.

"Alright, then it's settled. Whoever has the most Pokémon by the time we get to Accumula is the winner. Don't take too long," Cheren said, walking away with Bianca right behind him.

"Ready?" I asked, turning to Black.

"Of course!" he said eagerly.

"Let's go!" I cheered, stepping into the tall grass.

_End~_

**A/N: And chapter 3 is done! This time our heroes have gotten their Pokémon and had a few battles! Next time we shall watch them try to catch a few Pokémon of their own.**

**So tell me, is this good? Bad? Awful? Give up now and contemplate suicide? Please, gimme your feedback!**

**Kthxbai**

**~Wildfire **


	4. Chapter 4

_Chapter 4: Gotta Catch 'Em All! Or Try, At Least…_

"Damn it! That's the fifth one we knocked out!" I said, angry, as yet another Patrat fell the ground, unconscious.

"Hey, don't be too sad. Its good training and you've already got a Lillipup," Black said encouragingly.

"Easy for you to say, you've already got one," I grumbled, causing Oshawott to pat my leg reassuringly.

I crouched down and rubbed her head, "Don't worry, girl, it's not your fault."

"Here, I'll go now. I still need a Lillipup," Black said, walking into the chest-height grass with his Oshawott.

"Wait! I've got a better idea!" I cried out suddenly, causing him to stop and look back.

"What if we spilt the number of different Pokémon on each route evenly between us then scanned each other's Pokémon for the data? That way we won't have to waste as many Pokéballs and not as many Pokémon will be boxed!" I explained, eyes bright. Black mulled the idea over for a bit before nodding.

"That's not a bad idea. But what about the next route with the Purrloin?" he asked.

"Hmm, what if we both caught one, to be fair? That way we'll use up an even number of Pokéballs and my mom can get the cat she's always wanted," I purposed. He nodded before giving me an odd look.

"How'd you know your mom wants a cat? Your real mom loves dogs," he said, eyes wide.

"I-I dunno…it just kinda popped into my head…" I stuttered, thinking rapidly. How'd I know that?! I don't even know when 'my' birthday is, but I know my mom wants a cat?!

"We'll figure it out later. Let's get these Pokémon scanned," Black said, dismissing the topic. I nodded, shoving the worry into the back of my head for later. We both called out our new Pokémon, grinning.

"Nice Patrat, Black," I commented, looking at his stats. It had an Adamant nature, and was a level four.

"Your Lillipup is not that bad either," Black replied, checking his Pokémons' stats.

"Alright, let's see what your stats are…" I muttered as I switched over to my own Pokémon.

_Lillipup, male_

_Level 4_

_Impish Nature_

_Ability-Vital Spirit_

_Moves-Tackle, Leer_

"Ok, I can work with this. I might consider using you. Now, let's see about you, Oshawott," I mumbled to myself, clicking over to my starter.

_Oshawott, female_

_Level 7_

_Timid Nature_

_Ability-Torrent_

_Moves-Tackle, Tail Whip, Water Gun_

"Not the best nature, but I can work with it," I mutter under my breath as I shut off my dex.

"Well, Lillipup, let's train you up to level 5," I said, walking into the grass with the puppy Pokémon by my side.

"Look there, Lillipup! A Patrat!" I said suddenly, pointing a Patrat a few paces away.

"Alright Lillipup! Engage the Patrat with a Tackle!" I shouted, pointing forward.

"Rarf!" the small Pokémon cried, charging forward.

"Pat!" the rat cried, running forward to use Pound.

"Keep it up Lillipup!" I called encouragingly.

The two Pokémon tackled each other for a bit, before breaking off panting.

"Finish it with Tackle!" I shouted.

The puppy charged the rat, knocking it into a tree and out cold. I cheered, racing to my Pokémon.

"Awesome! That was your first battle!" I shouted, picking up Lillipup and twirling around.

"Osha osha!" my starter sang, joining in on my celebrating.

"Pup, Lilli?" Lillipup asked, looking confused. I laughed and set him down.

"Alright, Lillipup will be leveled up to level 5 and Oshawott will be level 8 before we meet back up with my friend Black, so let's get to it!" I said leading the two Pokémon into the tall grass.

The two took turns fighting wild Pokémon, reaching level 5 and 8 at the same time.

"Alright Lillipup, return," I said, putting him back into his Pokéball.

"Alright Oshawott, let's go find Black," I said, bring out my starter.

We patrolled the tall grass, battling wild Pokémon as we went, causing Oshawott to level up. We were half way to level nine when we ran into Black.

"God damn it! What the flying hell! Why are there no bloody Pokémon anywhere? Just stinking grass! Gah!" Black swore violently, causing his Oshawott and Patrat to flinch away before trying to calm their trainer.

"Really Black? You can't find any Pokémon?" I asked, snickering as I leaned against a tree, Oshawott mimicking my position.

"Yeah, and it's pissing me off!" Black swore again, making both our Pokémon flinch.

"Chill man, we're not playing a game anymore. We'll find something," I said, trying to calm him down. He nodded, taking a deep breath.

"Good, you're calm. There's a group of twenty-some odd Pokémon maybe ten feet that way. Let's go see if they're still there," I said, looping my arm through his and tugging him along.

"Alright," Black said as we walked towards where I saw the group.

"Are we there yet?" he asked after a bit.

"Almost, so shush," I said quietly, pointing at a group of Pokémon not 10 paces from us.

"Can you distract half the group so Patrat and Oshawott will stand a chance?" Black asked. I nodded, hopping out and directing my Pokémon to split the group in two.

"Oshawott, use Water Gun to split the group!" I shouted. The water type sprayed down the middle of the group, cutting in evenly in half.

"Oshawott, Patrat, get the ones on my left!" Black yelled, causing his Pokémon to race at the disgruntled Lillipup and Patrat.

"Lillipup and Oshawott, distract the ones on the right!" I cried. My Pokémon weaved in and out of the other half, drawing their attention away from the other fight.

I watched as my two Pokémon moved in and out of the crowd of wild ones, occasionally calling out a command when they looked stuck-which wasn't that often. Soon enough, I heard Black call,

"We're joining you guys!"

"Ok! Oshawott, Lillipup, start attacking when Black's Pokémon join us!" I called. The two nodded swiftly before lunging in opposite directions. They both unleashed a flurry of attacks when Black's Pokémon jumped into the fray.

Within minutes, all the wild Pokémon were knocked out.

"Great job everyone!" I cheered, hugging my Pokémon briefly.

"Osha!" Oshawott cried, licking my cheek before running over to her shiny companion.

"Rarf!" Lillipup barked, squirming happily as I pet her before darting over to Patrat.

"Good work, guys," Black said, hugging his two Pokémon before letting them join mine.

"What level are they now?" I asked as I joined Black.

"Lemme check," he said, pulling out his Pokédex.

"Oshawott is level 8 and Patrat is level 7," he said, snapping his dex shut, "Yours?"

"Hmm…" I hummed, pulling out Dexter and checking, "Oshawott's 8, Lillipup's 7."

"How they are equal in level shall remain a mystery," Black said, grinning.

"Ok then weirdo. Let's get going," I said, rolling my eyes as I recalled Lillipup. Black chuckled, recalling Patrat.

"Hello there! You two look like new Trainers! Would you like a free Potion sample? They'll be sure to come in handy in the future!" a nice-looking lady said, coming up to us and smiling kindly.

"Sure! Thanks miss!" I said, taking one.

"Yeah, thank you miss," Black said, taking the other.

"No problem, kids. Have fun on your journey, now!" she said with a smile before turning and walking away.

"Isn't she nice? I had forgotten that strangers in Pokémon games were so much nicer than strangers in real life," I said happily, skipping down the path next to Black.

"Yeah, people here like kids and teens much more than real adults do," he said, casually walking behind me.

"Hey look Black, there's Bianca and Cheren! We're almost there!" I cried, pointing ahead.

"Good, I was hoping to get to Striaton City before nightfall," he said, picking up the pace a bit.

"Hey! Bianca! Cheren! We're here!" I singsonged, skipping toward my friends.

"Hurry up you guys! The professor probably thinks we're lost already!" Cheren yelled, looking impatient.

"So-orry. We we're taking some time to train a bit," I said, stopping in front of the duo.

"Ok, you two, quit bickering. Black and White, how many Pokémon do you have?" Bianca said, placing a hand on Cheren and my chests so we didn't start fighting.

"White and I each got 2 Pokémon each," Black said, smiling proudly. Bianca stepped back once she was sure we wouldn't start bickering again.

"Oo, so cool! Cheren and I have 2 each, so we're all tied!" Bianca said, smiling at Black.

I smirked to myself; maybe spending all that time being a Rebelshipper wasn't for nothing after all.

"We should get moving, the professor probably wants to see us," Cheren said, breaking off from the mini-stare contest that we were having.

_End~_

**A/N: This time, our heroes have caught their first Pokémon and began to build their teams! Next time, we shall follow them into Accumula Town and see what problems they will face there! **

**So tell me, am I doing good? Bad? Awful? Just give up? Give me some feedback please! **

**Yes, I know it's short. I tried, I really did. I think the next one's longer though...**

**Oh! Mid-terms are rapidly approaching, and that means for us Honor students it's project season! So that means I won't be able to work on this too much, since I'll be buried in packets, projects, and babysitting. Yes, now is the**_**perfect**_**time to give me more hours. -.-**

**Kthxbai**

**~Wildfire**


	5. Chapter 5

_Chapter 5: The Soon-To-Be Infamous Team Plasma and N_

_Christina/White's POV_

"Woo! We did it, Black! We got to Accumula! Where should we go first?" I yelled excitedly, jumping around with Oshawott, laughing.

"Well, we could explore down there, go up there, or go right to the Pokémon Center and continue with the plotline," he said, smiling slightly at my childish behavior.

"We should go down, up, then on with the plotline. We can explore elsewhere in town later. but we should be fast; we don't have unlimited daylight here," I said, trying to tone down my excitement so I didn't seem like a tourist in a place I probably had gone to in my 'past'.

I nodded, then proceeded to lead the way down the stairs.

"You started with an Oshawott? You must be a cool person, then," a little boy said to us before going back to his toys.

"Well then, that's odd," Black said slowly.

"What? You never talked to him before?" I asked as we moved out of earshot.

"No."

"That explains it."

He shrugged before entering a house with the door wide open.

"Hi there! You must be new trainers! Have a free Pokéball, on me!" a fatherly man said, giving us the aforementioned red and white ball.

"Thank you!" we chorused.

"Could you please play with my daughter upstairs for a bit? She doesn't have any friends her own age," the man said, motioning us to the stairs.

"Sure!" I chirped, leading the way up and into the girl's room.

"Hi! Did my daddy send you up to play with me?" a small girl of about six asked.

"Yes he did, sweetie. What do you want to play?" I asked, crouching down to her level.

"Let's play Pokémon rock-paper-scissors! Grass beats Water, Water beats Fire, and Fire beats Grass. Ready?"

I nodded, then began counting with the girl.

"3…2…1…"

"Water!" I cried.

"Grass!" the girl said.

"Yay! I won! Wanna play again?"

"Sure."

"3…2…1…"

"Fire!" I said.

"Grass!" the girl said once more.

"Yay! You won! Your turn, boy!" the girl said happily, turning to Black.

"3…2…1…"

"Grass," he said quickly.

"Fire!"

"Yay! You won! Wanna play again?"

He nodded before beginning to count with the girl.

"3…2…1…"

"Water."

"Grass!"

"Yay! I won! You two should get going on your journey now! Bye-bye!" the girl chirped before going back to her toys.

We shrugged at each other, before saying good-bye and leaving.

"Let's go visit the musician's place before the center," Black said, looking eager.

"Ok!" I chirped, following him as we headed up the narrow stairs.

We soon entered the house and the musicians willingly began to play, their beautiful music drifting all over town.

We stayed for a bit, before quietly leaving, since our hosts were absorbed in their music.

"Onwards to the Pokémon Center!" I yelled, leading the charge down the stairs and into the center.

We entered the building only to be ambushed my Professor Juniper and Bianca. The Prof. proceeded to show us how to heal our Pokémon and use the PC before showing us the Pokémart section. I bought some Potions, Pokéballs, and Antidotes, knowing I'd need them soon.

"Ready to go?" Black asked once we both bought some things.

"Sure. We'll see you around, Bianca!" I called as we left the center.

"Hey, what's going on over there?" one man asked another.

"I don't know, let's go check it out," the other man replied.

Black and I gave each other a look before heading to the center of town.

We saw Cheren and went to stand beside him, me in between the two boys. Up on an elevated bit of land was a long line of weirdoes with ginger hair wearing strange outfits. In front of them was a man with long tea green hair pulled back into a strange ponytail wearing a weird robe. Soon, the man began to speak.

"Thank you for coming to our presentation. My name is Ghetsis. I am here representing Team Plasma. Today, ladies and gentlemen, I would like to talk to you about Pokémon liberation," the man said in a knowing tone, like he was better than us.

Murmurs of "Huh?" and "What?" passed through the crowd. Cheren, Black, and I didn't say a word, but my brow creased and I picked up Oshawott, noting that Black did the same.

Ghetsis paced over to the left to address the right side of the crowd while speaking. "I'm sure most of you believe that we humans and Pokémon are partners that have come to live together because we want and need each other. However…" He paused, probably for effect. "Is that really the truth? Have you even considered that perhaps we humans… only assume that this is the truth?"

He walked back to the center. "Pokémon are subject to the selfish commands of trainers…" He paused. "They get pushed around when they are our "partners" at work…" He put in another pause. He almost looked pained by the subject of what he was saying, like he had human emotions. "Can anyone say with confidence that there is no truth in what I'm saying?"

The crowd shuffled at looked around, murmuring once again.

"Yikes."

"I don't know…"

"No way!"

I looked at Black and mouthed the words "Bull shit." earning a smirk.

The crowd silenced and focused back on Ghetsis as he walked to the left side of the crowd—almost directly in front of Cheren, Black, and I— and continued, "Now, ladies and gentlemen, Pokémon are different from humans. They are living beings that contain unknown potential. They are living beings from whom we humans have much to learn. Tell me, what is our responsibility toward these wonderful beings called Pokémon?" I could have sworn he looked right at Black and I, but his gaze seemed to meet everyone's.

"What could it be?" one lady asked worriedly.

"Liberation?" a man questioned.

"That's right!" Ghetsis declared, somehow hearing that soft word as he moved back to the center of the plaza. "We must liberate the Pokémon! Then, and only then, will humans and Pokémon truly be equals. Everyone, I end my words here today by imploring you to consider the relationship between people and Pokémon… and the correct way to proceed."

I suppressed a growl, trying to keep myself from yelling back, giving my own speech-one that I perfected through many, many play throughs- that I typically did whenever I played.

"We sincerely appreciate your attention," he finished, and the people behind him did something—I don't even know how to describe it. With massive organization skills, they grabbed the two flags with the capital P they had at each end of the plaza, created two lines with a single man in front to make a protective formation around Ghetsis, and walked him off the side of the plaza. In seconds, it was empty. As if no one had been up there in the first place.

As the crowd began to leave, I heard people asking each other questions about the speech.

"About the speech…what should we do?" a man asked.

"Liberate Pokémon?! That's not even possible!" a young man cried.

The crowd was soon gone, leaving only Black, Cheren, and I, along with another man standing a ways away.

"Pokémon…don't like being around people?" Cheren questioned, looking concerned.

"No way! Not a chance! Pokémon are amazing beings and if they didn't like being captured, they would have gotten away! They're strong and smart enough to fend for themselves and if they didn't like us, not even a Master Ball could keep them with us!" I yelled passionately.

"Osh, osha, wott wott OSHA!" my Oshawott shouted from my arms, banging her chest and waving her scalchop.

"That's right! If Pokémon didn't like people, then someone would have already done something! Yeah, there are bad people-like Team Rocket, Team Magma, Team Aqua, and Team Galactic-but if Pokémon needed to be freed from people, a champion like Red would have done it already! And we wouldn't be on a journey, because everyone respects Red!" Black added loudly.

"Wott OSHA, osha osha WOTT!" Black's Oshawott added, waving his scalchop around as if to make a point.

Cheren looked mildly miffed at the passion of our speeches, and our Pokémons' responses.

The guy who was earlier standing a bit away had moved closer and begun to speak.

"Your Pokémon…" he began slowly, "Just now it was saying…"

"Whoa, slow down. You talk too fast," Cheren said, cutting the stranger off.

"Calm yourself, Cheren. He wasn't talking that fast," I said with a laugh.

"Yeah, Cheren. Catch up, would ya?" Black said, smirking at our friend, causing him to scowl.

"And what's this about Pokémon talking? That's an odd thing to say," Cheren continued, pretending to ignore us.

"Wow, Cheren, what rock have _you_ been living under? A Pokémon's cries mean something, and some Trainers can understand these cries if they've been with their Pokémon long enough," I said, beginning to smirk myself.

Cheren gave me an annoyed look and punched me in the arm. The guy ignored our squabble and continued.

"Oh, you three can't understand them either…how sad…," he sounded truly sad, like there was something wrong with us, yet he continued on anyways, "My name is N."

"This White and Black, and I'm Cheren. We were asked to complete the Pokédex, my main goal is to become the Champion, though," Cheren said, speaking for all of us.

"Complete the Pokédex…you'll have to confine a lot of Pokémon to Pokéballs to do that, then. I'm a Trainer too, but I can't help but wondering…are Pokémon really happy that way?" if N and Ghetsis weren't related by blood-which would be surprising, since they both have the same shade of tea green hair-then they are most defiantly related by thought and maybe ideals. He looked up to where Ghetsis stood earlier before looking back-right at me. He stepped closer until he was standing right in front of me, causing me to look way up; he was real tall, and my hat was in the way. He looked at me, then my Oshawott.

"Well, White, is it? Let me hear your Pokémon's voice again!" N said before stepping back a bit and releasing a purple cat-like Pokémon.

"Ah, the infamous Purrloin. Good luck, Chris," Black murmured in my ear before backing off.

"Thanks, man. Alright Oshawott, let's show these posers up!" I said energetically, placing Oshawott on the ground.

"Osha WOTT!" the otter Pokémon cried, winking back at me.

"Start things off right, girl, WATER GUN!" I yelled, attracting the attention of some random bystanders.

"Osha…WOTT!" my Pokémon yelled, shooting out a large amount of water at a high pressure, causing the Purrloin to fly backwards.

The cat let out a hiss of annoyance, not liking getting wet.

"More! Let me hear the voice of your Pokémon! Purrloin, Scratch!" N called to me. More? This coming from the guy who winced when his Pokémon got hit? Ok, whatever, weirdo.

His Purrloin raced at Oshawott and slashed her across the chest, leaving 3 long, bloody scratches.

"You wish is my command, my king," I said sarcastically with a mocking bow, "You heard him, Oshawott, Water Gun!" N froze up when I called him 'my king', then relaxed when he realized I was mocking him.

"Osha WOTT!" Oshawott cried, once again shooting water at the Purrloin, who flew backwards and crashed into a lamppost, slumping to the ground, knocked out.

"I never expected a Pokémon to say such things…" N said, recalling his Pokémon.

I half-ignored him, rushing to my Pokémon, who met me halfway.

"Awesome job, girl! You did great! How are your scratches doing? That Purrloin got you good, didn't he?" I said, picking up my tiny Pokémon and checking her wounds.

"Osha osh! Osh osha wott!" my Pokémon cried happily, licking my check.

"Good, they aren't that deep. You did so good out there, girl! We should be able to take on the first gym in no time!" I cheered, hugging her.

"Pokémon will never be perfect beings. Not the way they are now. I have to change the world for Pokémon because they are my friends," N's voice cut through our celebrating, causing me to look up just in time to see the remorseful look across his face.

"No one can be perfect; we can only strive to be the best we can be. I can only speak for myself, but I am striving and will always strive to be friends with my Pokémon and help them be the best they can be. I kind of owe it to them, since they have done and will do so much for me already," I said, smiling down at the Oshawott in my arms.

"Is that really what you believe to be the truth? But do you wonder how the Pokémon themselves think? Trainers battling Pokémon… using them for competition… not caring what the Pokémon themselves feel… Pokémon will never be able to rise to their true potential with people holding them back like this." N said, scoffing at me.

Without letting me have a chance to make a comeback, he turned and walked away.

"Huh…strange guy," Cheren commented, turning to me, "But I'm not going to worry about it, and I suggest you don't either. Trainers and Pokémon help each other out!" I nodded, completely agreeing.

"Listen, I'm going on ahead. I want to battle the gym leader in the next town—Striaton City. The best way for a trainer to become stronger is to challenge the gym leaders in each area," Cheren told us, before walking in same direction N went.

"Well, that was rude. He didn't even say good-bye," Black said, speaking for the first time since we saw N.

"We'll be seeing him soon enough. Listen, I want to heal Oshawott real quick before we head out. I want to get to Striaton before nightfall," I said, beginning to move towards the Pokémon center.

"Good idea. I'm going to go exploring. I'll meet you by the Route 2 Gate in, let's say, a half-hour. Sound good?" Black asked.

"Sounds good. See you then," I said, starting to run to the Center, waving back at Black.

_End~_

**A/N: Woo! Chapter 5 done! I kinda like this one. It starts to add some differences. **

**Next time shall be a complete surprise. That is all.**

**Please, tell me how I'm doing. Is this good? Bad? Awful? Stop now and leave forever? Please R&R so I know how you feel! Also, tell me what you want to see, and tell me how you want to get what-like who you want to get which Legendary trio- Cobalion, Terrakion, and Virizion being one, Tornadus,Thunderus, and Landorus being the other. I dunno, random stuff like that.**

**Kthxbai**

**~Wildfire **


	6. Chapter 6

_Chapter 6: A What A Fuke?_

_Christina/White's POV _

"Hi Nurse Joy! You mind healing up my Oshawott?" I asked cheerfully, placing a Pokéball on the Pokémon Center counter.

"Not at all, White! I'll call when she's all healed up," the pink haired nurse said, smiling cheerfully.

I thanked her, then wandered to the cafeteria area of the center. I glanced at the clock on the wall, 1:45 pm. Reasonable time for lunch, so I'll just grab two of the cheapest sandwiches and some Pokémon food for Water and Normal Types.

I meandered up to the line, which was rather long, considering the time. While waiting for my turn to get food, I examined the room. The cafeteria was not too dissimilar from the ones in the anime, but this one had several differences that made it unique. There were several booths and tables scattered around the large room, their sizes varying. One wall was completely covered in glass, giving the people a clear idea of how much daylight they had left. The space opposite the window wall opened back into the main area of the center, allowing trainers and large Pokémon to walk through at the same time. The 'kitchen' area-where I was-had several long lanes for trainers to get food. There were kind looking people manning the cash registers and serving areas. The far wall from where I was had many large windows that overlooked what seemed to be a man-made pond for water Pokémon.

"Are you going to go forward, or are you just going to stand there?" an annoyed voice said.

"Oh, sorry. Didn't realize the line moved," I said sheepishly, walking forward.

"Don't worry about it. You must be a new trainer, since most don't just stand there, gawking at the cafeteria," the guy said, sounding amused.

"Yeah, I guess they don't. I'm White, I just got my first Pokémon from Professor Juniper today," I said, turning to the boy and extending my hand.

"Tyler. I just got here today, but it's my technical first day of my journey," he said, shaking my hand firmly. He was wearing those black, fingerless gloves that seem to come from nowhere.

"What do you mean by that?" I asked, stepping backwards in line, keeping my blue/green eyes trained on his pure blue ones.

"Well, my older brother gave me my first Pokémon a while ago as an egg, but I wasn't allowed to train him past level five. He told me that if I over trained him, I wouldn't be allowed to use him in the gym challenge," Tyler said, fingering the Friend Ball in his belt.

"Your brother's full of crap," I said with a laugh.

"Yeah, he is. But he did have a point with the 'don't train past level five before your journey' thing," he said, laughing as well. He had a nice laugh, full of life.

"So who's your first Pokémon? Mine's Oshawott," I said proudly, glancing towards the front desk.

"Deino. My brother bred his and gave me his egg when I turned eleven. You want to meet him?" Tyler asked eagerly.

"I do, but it wouldn't be right to meet your when I don't have mine on me," I said, stepping backwards again.

"Miss, it's your turn," a kind voice called from behind me.

"Oh yes, sorry. Can I get two bags of Water Pokémon food and two bags of Normal Pokémon food?" I asked the man, grabbing two peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, deciding that Black and I needed comfort food.

"Sure. Hang on one second," the man said, disappearing into the back.

"Normal Pokémon food? And why two bags of water?" Tyler asked, sounded bemused.

"One for my Oshawott, and one for the guy who I'm traveling with's Oshawott. The Normal food for is for his Patrat and my Lillipup," I said.

"That explains the two sandwiches," he said, grabbing one for himself.

I took that moment to examine Tyler fully. He was a bit taller than I was, but I seem to have shrunk a bit. He had shaggy dirty blond hair that hung in his eyes, a kind smile, and piercing blue eyes-the same shade as the real White's, but much clearer. He was wearing a dark grey athletic shirt with dark purple patches and loose faded jeans. He had a light grey and black bag that looked a bit like a laptop bag with a Pokémon logo on it. He was wearing grey and black boots and had a faded leather Pokéball belt tried at his waist.

"Her you go, miss. Can I help you, sir?" the man said, coming back with the bags.

"Yeah, one bag of Dragon Pokémon food, please," Tyler said, looking the man dead in the eyes.

"I'll be right back!" the man chirped, hurrying away.

"Say, would you and your friend like to join me for lunch? Maybe for a battle afterwards?" Tyler said, looking back at me.

"Sounds good. Let me just go pay for this and call him," I said, moving to the register.

"How much for all this?" I asked the lady working it.

"450 Poké," she said, ringing my food up.

I pulled out the money and handed it to her, placing to Pokémon food in my bag and holding the sandwiches. I thanked the lady and headed over to a quiet corner, calling Black on my Xtransceiver.

"Hey Black," I said cheerfully when he picked up.

"Where are you? We were supposed to meet at the Route 2 gate!" he scolded.

"I know, I know. I just stopped to grab lunch for us and our Pokémon. You mind meeting me at the center? I got to talking with a cool guy in line for the food who has a Deino, and I agreed to us having a quick lunch with him," I said, smiling sheepishly.

"Geez, Chris, when'd you get so social?" he asked jokingly. I had never really like people, deeming them stupid and not tending to talk to strangers.

"I guess Bianca is rubbing off on me," I joked back.

"Fine, I'll be there. But you better have soda!" he said before hanging up.

I shook my head while smiling, shutting off the Xtransceiver before going to pick up Oshawott.

"So is your friend going to be joining us?" a voice in my ear said quietly, making me jump slightly.

"Geez, Tyler! You're gonna give me a heart attack! And yeah, he will be. He should be here soon," I said, spinning and holding Oshawott's Pokéball to my chest.

Tyler just laughed at me as I placed Oshawott's ball back in my bag and headed to a vending machine, paying for two sodas. A third dropped down, causing me to grin victoriously.

"Have a free soda, my good friend. This one was a bonus," I said, handing Tyler the bottle.

"Mm, bonus soda, my favorite," Tyler said jokingly.

"Oh, look! There's Black!" I said suddenly, pointing at the guy who just walked in. Black gave us a wave and headed over.

"Hey Black. This is Tyler, a guy I met while getting food," I said, tossing him his soda.

"Hey Tyler. I'm Black. Nice to meet you," he said, catching the bottle deftly with one hand and extending the other as a handshake.

"Nice to meet you too, Mr. White's Traveling Companion," Tyler said, smiling as he shook Black's hand.

"Now, let's grab some lunch, I'm starving," I said, my stomach rumbling its assist, causing the boys to laugh.

_End~_

**A/N: Surprise OC addition! I legit did not mean to add Tyler, but oh well! I'll figure out something to do with him.**

**Sorry this one was so short, but this felt like a good place to cut it off. Next will be longer, I promise!**

**Next time our heroes + one will eat lunch before hitting the dusty trail and see if they can get to Striaton before nightfall. Yeah, that's about it.**

**So do tell me, did you like it? Is it good? Bad? Awful?** **Just give up now? Gimme your feedback please! Also, let me know if you think Tyler should become a more permanent addition, since our heroes will be splitting from him during the next chapter. Message me if you want him to stay or not.**

**In addition, let me know if I should make the real Black and White's misadventures in our world a different story or not. Cuz I really don't know what to do with them…**

**Kthxbai**

**~Wildfire **


	7. Chapter 7

_Chapter 7- New Friends, People, and Battles!_

_Christina/White's POV_

"Let's eat here, it's as good a place as any," I said as we neared the man-made pond.

"Ok. The Oshawotts will be happy," Tyler said, pulling out a blanket from his bag and setting it down.

"Alright. Oshawott and Lillipup, lunch time!" I called, tossing out my Pokémon.

"Osh osha!" the otter Pokémon cried, jumping up and down.

"Arf arf!" the puppy Pokémon barked, chasing his tail.

"Hang on, guys. We gotta wait for Black's friends too," I grinned, sitting down on the blanket and pulling out four Pokémon bowls.

"Oshawott! Patrat! Time to eat!" Black said, tossing the two Pokéballs up.

The Pokémon popped out with their respective cries, jumping around Black's legs, looking for food.

I smiled and set my Oshawott and Lillipup over to join in their game of Pester Black. I blatantly ignored Black's cries for help and poured out some food into each bowl before setting them down.

"See! I _told_ you I didn't have the food! Go get White; she just put the food down!" Black said exasperated, pointing at the food.

The four baby Pokémon abandoned Black suddenly and attacked the food, much to Tyler and my amusement.

"Your Pokémon are funny," Tyler said, laughing as he poured out his Pokémon's food.

"This will be an interesting journey," I agreed, coaxing a startled Black onto the blanket and giving him a sandwich, rubbing his back soothingly.

Tyler just laughed at us and put his bowl of Pokéchow down.

"Doomsday! Let's eat pal!" he called, sending out his Pokémon.

The baby dragon licked its trainer's face before beginning to scarf down its food.

"Wow, a real Deino. Those are so cool! How'd you get one?" Black asked, forgetting his food.

"Well, you see…" Tyler launched into his story of how he got his Deino. Black was riveted, listening intently as he chewed his sandwich.

I smirked at the two and munched my sandwich, watching the Pokémon. The two Oshawott we talking excitedly with Patrat and Lillipup, gesturing wildly as they ate. Patrat, in turn, began to talk as well, probably telling them about the wild. Lillipup joined in occasionally-it seemed like the two Normal types knew each other before hand

I smiled at them; they seemed to be bonding well. I glanced at Tyler's Deino, who was watching them from a bit away. He looked like he wanted to join them, but was unsure how.

_Doomsday's POV_

I watched the four Pokémon eating and talking a bit away, slightly jealous of the bond they shared.

I glanced over at my trainer and the trainers he was with. The male was talking avidly with my trainer while his female companion was listening to them with a smile, watching their Pokémon. I saw her glance at me, smiling, and watched as her smile faltered.

She seemed to be reading me, wondering what the look on my face meant. She them smiled encouragingly at me, gesturing me to join the other Pokémon. I looked back at her, wide-eyed-not that she could tell. No one had ever even suggested I go play with their baby Pokémon.

She was still smiling at me, like she thought I was the most perfect Pokémon ever. I knew that was false; she had her own Pokémon and probably thought they were the world.

I steeled myself, then began pushing my bowl of food over to the other Pokémon.

"So once Tepig realized he'd eaten our food by mistake, he ran around squealing for a whole hour!" the female Oshawott laughed, causing the Patrat to chuckle.

"He probably would've gone longer, but Snivy decided she was sick of it and smacked him with her vines. The look on Tepig's face was too perfect!" the male Oshawott said, smiling. I noticed he looked different from his female friend. Maybe he was shiny…

"Um, hi," I said in a small voice. All four of the Pokémon's heads snapped to me, causing me to gulp.

"Hiya!" the female chirped. Her two male companions smiled at me.

"You mind if, um, I join you?" I asked quietly, my eyes not meeting theirs-not that they could tell.

"Not at all! Here, sit next to me," the Patrat said, moving over so I could join.

"T-thank you," I stuttered, pushing my bowl over.

"So what's your name?" the female chirped, smiling at me.

"Doomsday," I said, keeping my eyes down.

"Hiya, Doomsday! I'm Oshawott, but you can call me Osha. That's Patrat, over there is Lillipup, and this is Oshawott. You have a really cool name," she said happily.

"We call her Osha because there's two Oshawotts and their trainers haven't nicknamed them," Patrat explained, popping some food in his mouth.

"You got any stories to share, Doomsday?" Oshawott asked kindly.

"Stories?" I asked, confused.

"Yeah. We're going around and telling each other stuff about ourselves, since we're gonna be traveling together," he said.

I stuttered, trying to think of something.

Osha, sensing my distress, said, "We'll get back to you. Got any funny stories, Patrat?"

"Yeah. There was this one time Lillipup and I wanted to see if there were any other Pokémon in the area, besides the families of Patrat and Lillipup. We stumbled on a Pidove, literally. It was squawking so loud, I could swear the next route could hear it! It attacked us, trying to peak out our eyes, so I Leered at it, allowing Lillipup to dodge to its back and Tackle it to the ground. We took turns Leering and Tackling it until it fainted! When we were running home, we tripped over a root and went flying into a Pidove nest! We were so beat up, we couldn't fight back! Our parents were so mad when we got home," Patrat said, gesturing wildly.

We were all laughing when he was done; Osha was on her side, pounding the ground.

"Some people have all the luck, eh, buddy?" Oshawott grinned.

Patrat laughed back. When we had settled down a bit, Osha turned to me.

"So Doomsday, do you have eyes?"

"Yeah, why?" I answered, confused.

"Because we can't see them."

"Oh, here," I said, pulling my fringe back out of my eyes, blinking my blood red eyes at them.

They all shuddered, flinching back. I dropped my fringe back into my eyes and took a bite of my food not tasting it. That always happened.

"Why are they like that, Deino?" Osha asked, a bit nervous.

"That's just the color they are, like how yours and Oshawott's are black," I said, dejected.

"I was told Deinos' eyes were black…" Patrat said, confused.

"It had something to do with my parents. I don't know all the details," I said, eating some more.

"It's ok man, some Pokémon are just like that," Lillipup said, wagging his tail slightly.

We fell silent after that, finishing our food quickly.

_Christina/White's POV_

"Hey guys! If you're done gossiping, we should get going! We have to get to Striaton before nightfall," I called to the boys.

"White's right, we gotta go. We'll see you soon, right, Tyler?" Black said, balling us his sandwich wrapper.

"Yeah, I'll probably be bumping into you guys all over the place," he said, standing up and throwing his wrapper away with Black.

"We'll probably get sick of you after a bit," I joked, joining them.

We all laughed, them helped Tyler fold up his blanket. Black called back his Patrat and we set out, waving good-bye to Tyler and his Deino.

Soon enough, we were on Route 2 and had gotten the running shoes from my mom.

"So how should we break up the battles?" Black asked as we strolled through the shoulder height grass.

"You take the second. I'll get the first and third. That way you can fight Bianca. I'm going to train a bit and see if I can catch a Purrloin first, though," I said, scanning the area.

"Ok. See you in a bit," Black said, heading off in a different direction, letting me look for the Pokémon alone.

I hunted around in the grass for a while, not finding a single Purrloin. Oshawott had grown to level ten from beating the few Lillipup and Patrat that had attacked us. I let Lillipup out after a bit to train him, getting him to level ten as well.

I slumped down next to a tree, feeling dejected. Yeah, Purrloin weren't the most common Pokémon on the route, but this is getting ridiculous! I sighed and pet Oshawott's head soothingly, staring off at nothing in particular.

_Osha the Oshawott's POV_

I smiled up at my trainer as she pet my head, but she didn't seem to notice. I settled down on her lap, enjoying her attention.

After a bit, I heard the jeers and cries of other Pokémon a little ways away.

"Hey! Hey White! I hear something! White! Snap out of it!" I cried, tugging her shirt.

"Hm? Is there something wrong Oshawott?" she asked, looking down at me with slightly glazed over mint green eyes.

"Yes! I hear other Pokémon! I think something's wrong!" I shouted, jumping off her lap and pointing where I heard the noise coming from.

"There's something over there? I don't hear anything…" she said thoughtfully, snapping out of her daze when someone cried, "OW!"

"That sounds like a hurt Pokémon! Let's go, Oshawott!" she said, jumping to her feet.

"No, really? What was your first clue? The 'OW!'?" I asked sarcastically, leading her to where I heard the noise.

She seemed to not hear me, focused on the noise.

We burst into a clearing, where a group of Patrat, Lillipup, and Purrloin where ganging up on another, larger Purrloin.

"What's going on here?" White asked. As if they'd answer her.

"Hey! Leave him alone!" I yelled, jumping in front of White.

"Hmph, as if, girlie," a mean looking Patrat scoffed.

"Go play with your friends, sweet checks. We'll deal with the abnormal one," a vicious Purrloin hissed, sliding his claws out.

"As if!" I shouted, using Water Gun to knock a few back.

"Oshawott?! What are you doing?!" my trainer cried in shock.

"Teaching these bullies a lesson," I said firmly, Tackling a Lillipup into a tree.

A few Patrat ran at me, their fangs elongated.

"AH! That's Bite! Dodge it, Oshawott!" my trainer cried.

"Way ahead of you," I said with a smirk, gracefully leaping over them and spraying them with Water Gun.

I landed in front of my trainer and flipped my scalchop once before placing it back on my chest.

Three Purrloin ran at me from each side, claws stretched out. I couldn't see a way to dodge them, and those claws looked like they were gonna hurt. I flinched, remembering the battle with the weird guy with green hair and his Purrloin.

"Use Water Gun while spinning, Oshawott! Full force!" White yelled.

My eyes widened; that was a good idea! I took a deep breath, then spun around as fast as I could, spraying my Water Gun as hard as I could. When I stopped spinning, I was a bit dizzy, but I had hit every one of the bullies head on, knocking them out.

"Alright! Great job, Oshawott!" my trainer cried, rushing over to hug me. Her vest and bag were damp. Whoops, must have hit her.

I smiled up at her, enjoying her praise.

"Hey, girlie," a voice said, snapping me out of my happiness.

I wiggled out of her arms and said to the Purrloin, "Yeah?"

"Thanks. You and your trainer saved my hide."

"No problem!" I said happily.

"Hey Purrloin? Would you like to join us for a short time? Not for long, just until the next town. Then you can go live with my mom, who will feed you and love you and take care of you," White said, crouching down to our level.

"Eh, sure. I don't like battling and a soft life sounds good," he said, nodding.

"Great! Ok, go Pokéball!" she said, tossing a Pokéball at him.

The ball clicked shut almost instantly, causing my trainer to cheer.

"YES! We got a Purrloin, Oshawott!"

I smiled and cheered with her, thinking to myself that she is far too happy sometimes.

_End~_

**A/N: What was this, chapter 7? I really got to keep track of what chapter I'm on…**

**Anyways, next chapter will be a few trainer battles and our heroes will head towards Striaton. That's about it, really. **

**So this time we had a look see from a few Pokémon's views. Fun, huh? I'm going to be doing that a lot to try to keep this interesting. Tell me what you think about that, as you're telling me whether or not I should pitch myself off a cliff-and not into water.**

**Another thing, should our heroes go cliff diving? And if so, where? Cliff diving's really fun, and I did a lot of it this summer and the previous one, so I'll be able to write that really well.**

**Kthxbai**

**~Wildfire**


	8. Chapter 8

_Chapter 8: On the Road to Striaton! Wow, that was cheesy and predictable…_

_Christina/White's POV _

I skipped down the path to where I was supposed to meet Black, overjoyed at the easy capture. I will have to make sure to call the Prof. When I deposit Purrloin to tell her to send him to my mom. She always wanted a cat…

Oshawott and I got to the meeting place, wide grins on our faces.

"Why so happy, White?" Black asked, seeing our smiles.

"We caught a Purrloin! And without any fuss!" I proceeded to tell Black every detail of our ordeal.

"So when I deposit him, I'm going to ask the Prof. to deliver him to my mom so she can care for him," I finished.

"Good for you. We didn't have much luck, but Patrat leveled up. We should get going, it's probably 3:30 by now," Black said.

I agreed and we headed down the path, only to be stopped by a boy a year or two younger than us.

"Yes?" Black said, looking at the boy.

"A Trainer catches another Trainer's eye! That is the start of a Pokémon battle!" he cried, backing up and sending out a Patrat.

"Well, I think you gotta battle him," Black said, shuffling back with Oshawott. I shot him a look that said "You don't say?"

"Alright! Let's go Oshawott!" I cried, pointing forward. The otter raced forward.

"Osha!" she cried, pounding her chest. Hmph, Timid nature my ass…

"I choose you Patrat!" the boy shouted, tossing out the small rat.

"Trat!"

"Oshawott, use Water Gun!"

The blue Pokémon shot a spray of clear blue water at the enemy Patrat, knocking it back a few paces.

"Don't take that lying down Patrat! Use Tackle!"

The brown Pokémon shook its head to clear it before rocketing at mine, knocking them into a tree.

"Tackle it right back Oshawott!"

Oshawott rammed the other into the ground before getting knocked back when the other trainer called an attack.

"Finish this with Water Gun!"

The second jet of water was enough to knock the brown Pokémon out and into a tree.

"What?! You're too strong! Here, take it," the boy said, recalling his Pokémon and handing me 112 Poké.

I took the money, thanking the boy. The boy ran off before we could get his name.

"Weird kid…I'll take the next one," Black said, walking back over to me.

"Alright. Here, Oshawott, hold still," I said, spraying the scrapes with a potion.

"Osha…" the Pokémon complained, but holding still nonetheless.

"There you go, buddy. All healed up," I said, rubbing my Pokémon's head before standing up.

"Come on, let's get moving," I said, bouncing up and down on the balls of my feet.

Black chuckled at my behavior before nodding. I grinned wildly and charged down the path with Oshawott, overeager to get on the way. Black and his Pokémon trailed behind us, unsure of what to make of our energy.

"I really love Pokémon battles!" a young girl said, bouncing up to us with a smile on her face.

"Um, ok then, good for you?" Black said uncertainly.

"Cause my cute Pokémon will do its best in a really cute way!" the girl chirped, completely ignoring him and sending out a Purrloin.

He just shrugged and sent out Oshawott.

"Use Assist, Purrloin!" the girl called. Her Pokémon shot her a look of "Are you really that bloody dumb?"

"Use Water Gun, Oshawott!" Black yelled. Oshawott let out a cry and shot the water at the cat, sending it back into a tree.

"Once more, Oshawott!" he shouted when the girl didn't call an attack. So the same process repeated itself, this time knocking the Pokémon out.

"Even though it lost, my Pokémon it still cute!" the girl said before recalling her Purrloin, who shot us a look of "Is this girl for real?"

Black chuckled a bit and took the $112 from the girl and she skipped off. I walked over shaking my head at the girl.

"I know, I think she's crazy too," He said, picking up his Oshawott.

We headed into the last patch of tall grass, taking out wild Pokémon who attacked us with ease. By the time we got the final Trainer, my Oshawott was level twelve, Lillipup's was eleven, Black's Oshawott was eleven, and his Patrat was level nine.

I used my Lillipup against the random boy's Lillipup. The two normal types bit and tackled each other until the other Lillipup fainted. The boy tossed the prize money at me before running off somewhere. We debated heading into town just yet, wondering if we should spend the last hour or so of daylight training.

"I think we should head in, battle Bianca, and get a room before they're all gone," I said, thinking practically, "We'll have plenty of time to train tomorrow."

"No, we should stay out a bit longer. I want to see if I can catch a Purrloin before we go into town," Black argued.

"There will be plenty of time tomorrow to catch one. Besides, I think that staying out after sunset out here will be an even worse idea here than it is back home," I said, trying to appeal to Black's intelligent side. He went quiet for a moment as he mulled over what I said.

"How about we stay out for no longer than a half hour looking for a Purrloin before heading back? That way we get in before sundown and get in a bit of extra training," he compromised.

"That sounds fair. I'm gonna let out Purrloin and Lillipup; they needs to stretch their legs and Oshawott's looking a bit sleepy," I said, pulling out the two Pokéballs.

Black nodes and I tossed out the cat and dog Pokémon. Purrloin meowed, stretching his legs and peering up at us with bright green eyes. Lillipup barked at me before joining Patrat and the Oshawotts.

"Hey, buddy. This is Black, and his Pokémon; Oshawott and Patrat. We're going to be walking around for a bit and they're a bit tired. You want to help us out for a bit?" I asked, scratching him behind the ear. He purred, rubbing against my hand.

"Alright, thanks boy. Let's get going, my friend Black wants to catch himself a Purrloin," I said, giving him one final pet before standing up.

Purrloin meowed at me before taking the lead into the tall grass, sniffing at the ground occasionally. My Oshawott and Lillipup followed behind him with the other Pokémon, explaining how we caught the cat Pokémon.

"Now I know why so many people love Purrloin; they're so soft!" I said conversationally.

"They have to have at least one good point, and if it can't be their strength, it should be their appearance," he responded.

We walked in silence for a bit, the only sounds being the Pokémon around us and the grass crunching under our feet. As we walked parallel to the woods, I could have sworn I saw something flash by out of the corner of my eye. I stopped suddenly, my eyes flickering over the trees.

I paused for a moment before shaking myself firmly; it was probably just a Pokémon. No need to get freaked out and paranoid.

After about ten minutes of following Purrloin through the grass, we came upon a large group of the Dark Types. They were lounging about, play-fighting, and the like. Black threw an excited look at me, calling quietly to his Oshawott.

He bent down and began conversing in low tones with the Water Type. When he stood up, his Pokémon rushed one of the smaller ones near the outside of the group, Tackling it. Sensing what he was doing, I called to my Pokémon.

"Oshawott! Purrloin! Lillipup! Keep the Pokémon away from Black's fight! Patrat, you help them!" I shouted.

Oshawott nodded before blasting a Purrloin away from the fight with Water Gun. Purrloin caught on to what I was saying and began to mock the other cat Pokémon. He pranced back and forth, hissing and snarling, while dodging countless attacks. Lillipup would then Tackle them when they got too close to Purrloin. When a Pokémon got too close to Black's fight and Oshawott or Purrloin or Lillipup couldn't intercept it, Patrat would burst out of the bushes in a blur of speed, Tackle the Pokémon away, then dart back into the bushes before any other the others could get a mark on it.

The plan the four had worked out was pretty fool-proof, especially for the Pokémon just meeting today. Purrloin would draw the fire away from Black's battle and use his speed to dodge the attacks. When a Pokémon was about to get the weaker one, my Oshawott would blast it away or Lillipup would Tackle it into the ground. If a Pokémon got too close to the fight, Patrat would deal with it.

There were only a few instances where a Purrloin got through. They had gotten smart and rushed the battle in a group of three. Patrat got two, but the third got through him. Seeing that my Pokémon were too preoccupied, I jumped in front of the wild Pokémon, batting it away like I would my cousin's kitten when he was biting too much.

My Pokémon gave me an astonished look before I waved them to continue. The three Pokémon from earlier rushed me, one latched onto my leg, another my arm, and a third jumped for my face. Ignoring the two cats digging their claws into my flesh like only an animal worker could, I reached up and caught the cat flying at my face. I tossed him a ways away before prying the one on my arm off and tossing her away. The two gave me startled and affronted looks before attacking my Pokémon with glee. It took a bit more effort to get the big one on my leg off, but I got him and tossed him towards the bushes.

I checked the claw marks. Seeing they weren't too bad, I continued to bat away Purrloin who made it through Patrat's killer defenses.

Eventually, I heard Black shout, "Pokéball, go!" I grinned and relaxed a bit since this was almost over.

"White! Gather up the Pokémon and let's get out of here!" I heard Black shout.

"Got it! Oshawott! Purrloin! Patrat! Lillipup! Let's get out of here!" I yelled, dodging two Purrloin who launched themselves at me.

Patrat shot out of the bushes and pounced on Black, who quickly recalled the tired Pokémon.

"Oshawott, Purrloin, Lillipup! Return!" I called, putting them back in their Pokéballs.

"Let's get out of here!" I yelled, running from the clearing, Black on my heels. We ran in the general direction of the city for a few minutes before stopping.

"Nice work keeping the Purrloin from our battle," Black panted, hands on his knees.

"Thanks," I gasped, my hands on my legs, trying to stop the bleeding.

"How bad did they get you?" he asked, checking my arms.

"Not too bad. They just won't stop bleeding!" I said, applying pressure.

"They might have hit a minor artery. We should get to town and get them checked," Black said, examining the cut on my leg that had a steady stream of blood running down my leg. He checked in his bag for a second before pulling out a pair of long red socks. He tied them around the cuts that were bleeding the worst.

"Thanks, Black. That should work until we get to a Pokémon Center," I said, throwing him a quick smile.

"Let's get moving, the sun will be going down soon," he responded, checking the sky. I nodded, calling out Purrloin to help guide us to town.

We were almost at the city limits when Bianca rushed up behind us, giving us a huge hug.

"Ohmygosh guys! I had no idea you two would be here by now!" she gushed, squishing the life out of us.

"Could you let-gasp-us go? You're kinda-gasp-choking us," I choked out in between gasping for air.

"Oh, sor-ry!" she sing-songed, letting us go.

"It's ok," Black said, taking deep breaths, hands on his knees.

"So since we're trainers now, we should battle, right?" Bianca said, still smiling.

"Uh, sure. I'll take this one, White, my Pokémon aren't as tired," he said.

"OK! Let's get going!" she blonde girl cheered, sending out a Lillipup.

"Let's go Patrat! Use Bite!" Black cried, tossing out his Normal Type.

His Pokémon wasted no time in chomping the other, making it squeal.

"Don't just take that, Lili! Use Tackle!" the green eyed girl cried.

The tiny normal type plowed into the other, knocking him down.

"Get back up and use Tackle, Patrat!"

The brown Pokémon jumped up and rammed into the other Pokémon, knocking it out.

"Urg, return, Lili. Go Porky!" Bianca said, sending out her starter.

"Alright, return Patrat. Go Oshawott, use Water Gun!" Black called, tossing out his starter.

The Fire Type was thrown back into a tree by the force of the attack, but managed to get up.

"Use Ember, Porky!" the blonde hair girl called.

A spray of red hot flames shot towards Oshawott. The otter Pokémon tried to dodge, but still got hit by the edge of the fire.

"Use Water Gun, finish this!"

Poor Porky couldn't handle a second one, fainting almost as soon as the spray hit him. Bianca recalled her fallen Pokémon and handed him the money.

"You two are really strong. We're gonna keep training so we can be as strong as you. Catch you guys later!" she said before heading into town.

"We should go too, White. We need to get your cuts checked," Black said, starting into town.

"Yeah, our Pokémon are beat too," I said, stumbling after him, recalling Oshawott.

We tripped our way into the city, thoroughly exhausted. There were few people there, so we didn't have to fight crowds.

"Hey Nurse Joy," Black said tiredly, handing over our Pokémon.

"Got any rooms left?" I asked, leaning against the counter, yawning.

"Yup! We have one room left with two beads. Here's the key and sign here, here, and here. Return the key when you're ready to leave," the pink haired lady said, handing us two room keys and a paper to sign. We signed it, not even bothering to read it.

"Thanks. By the way, got anything for Purrloin scratches? I had a run in with a large group of them," I said, handing the paper back.

"I'll help you with those in a moment, dear. Let me just go give your Pokémon to Audino and I'll be right back," the pink haired nurse said, taking our Pokémon and disappearing into the back, returning a moment or two with a few bottles and bandages.

"Hold still a moment and I'll disinfect the scratches and wrap them up," she said, coming around the counter and looking at my legs. She sprayed the cuts with one of the bottles and wiped them down with liquid from another. The cuts stung a bit, but bee stings hurt more so I didn't complain. That I was just too tired to consider expending the effort. She wrapped my legs in white bandages before giving my arms the same treatment.

"That should be fine by morning. Hold on a moment while I get your Pokémon," Nurse Joy said with a smile, disappearing once again. She came back, handing us our Pokéballs and telling us to have a nice night.

"Let's have dinner before sending the Purrloin over and going to bed," Black said, moving to the cafeteria.

"I second that motion," I said, falling into step beside him.

We entered the café, finding it packed with trainers and their Pokémon.

"Well, there goes a nice, quiet dinner," I said humorlessly, moving to the food area.

"Damn people, being so loud," Black grumbled, following me. We got some spaghetti and meatballs for ourselves and picked up some Dark Pokémon food since we still had some Water and Normal Pokémon food left. We paid and found a semi-empty corner, letting our Pokémon out.

"Osha…" my Pokémon yawned, stretching.

"Purrr…" my Dark Type mewed, patting my knee.

"Rarf," Lillipup yapped excitedly at all the people.

I patted my Pokémons' heads, pouring their food into some bowls and placing it in front of them. When all of our Pokémon had food, we sat down and began to pile food in our mouths, restoring some energy.

We were about a third of the way done when we saw Cheren and Bianca emerge from the dinner line, trays in hand. Black waved to them, making them start towards us. When they got closer, I noticed Snivy, Purrloin, Lillipup, and Tepig by their feet, looking a bit more subdued than earlier.

"Hey Cheren, hey Bianca," I said, clearing room for our friends. They nodded in greeting, setting their trays down before pulling out some Pokémon food.

"Training going well?" Black asked as they prepped their Pokémon's dinner.

Bianca nodded vigorously, placing two bowls of food on the floor and sending out her Lillipup. Her Tepig pushed his bowl over near the Oshawott duo while Lillipup joined Black's Patrat and my Lillipup and Purrloin.

"You're Pokémon clearly look worn out, so you must have been training hard," I noted as Cheren put down food for his two.

Cheren nodded, taking a bite of his burger. Bianca swallowed her mouthful of food before pointing at my bandaged arms.

"What happened there?"

Black and I recounted our story of the Purrloin clan as we finished up dinner, telling what we saw.

"So this group of three Purrloin raced at my battle. Patrat darted out of the bushes and got two but missed the third. White noticed this and jumped in front of the battle, caught the Pokémon and tossed it away!" Black said, waving his fork around.

"So I stayed there for the remainder of his fight, batting away the Pokémon Patrat missed. A few got through at once and latched themselves on my arms and legs. They hung on until I ripped 'em off and tossed 'em away," I continued, taking a bite of bread.

"When I had finally caught the Purrloin, I called the White and told her I was done. She rounded up our Pokémon and we ran out of there. I don't think the Purrloin gave chase, but we ran for about ten minutes before stopping," Black finished, taking a sip of his water.

"And then we met up with Bianca, fought her, and came here," I said, catching our story up to the present. Cheren looked at us skeptically before shrugging and taking a sip of water.

"That's awesome you guys!" Bianca cried.

"Why were you so dead set on getting a Purrloin? Are you going to use it or something?" Cheren asked.

"No. White and I both want to catch every Pokémon and complete the Pokédex so we plan on finding every type of Pokémon on each Route and catching each one. Both our Purrloin will go to the Prof. after dinner," Black answered, twirling his pasta around his fork.

"You guys are going to use up so many Pokéballs," Bianca commented before picking up her grilled cheese.

"Oh well. So what's your strategy for taking down the gym leader?" I said, leaning forward with an excited smile on my face.

"I haven't come up with one yet…," Bianca said dismally. Cheren nodded in agreement.

"We should all go to the gym together tomorrow and see if we could watch a battle. That way we could all come up with a strategy," Black suggested, finishing his food.

"That," I said, brandishing my fork at a rather surprised Black, "is a very good idea." The others blinked at me in silence for a few moments. Cheren finally spoke up before the silence became awkward.

"Ok. We'll meet up in front of the center at 11:15 am sharp and head over together," he looked us each in the eye, showing us he was dead serious. Bianca gulped quietly, making his look switch away from her.

"Good idea! We could all get lunch together after! I heard that there's this really great restaurant here that we have _got_ to go to!" Bianca squealed happily. Black and I looked at each other and smirked; little did they know we'd end up at said restaurant either way.

"Alright guys, White and I are gonna get going. See you tomorrow," Black said, standing up and recalling his Patrat and Purrloin. I stood up and recalled Purrloin and Lillipup, picking up or trays.

"Night guys!" Bianca said with a smile. Cheren just nodded, taking another bite of food. I tossed our trays and picked up Oshawott, following Black back into the main area of the center.

"Let's head to bed. I'll send Purrloin to the professor tomorrow or something," I said with a yawn.

"Mkay. Let's go," Black yawned, leading us towards our room.

_End~_

**A/N: I figured I needed to end this, or it would turn out to be too long. I hope you guys are enjoying the story so far.**

**Next time our heroes will go to bed and make plans for the next few days before beginning to train for their gym battles. Not very exciting, but it's what's got to happen.**

**So, what do you think? Is it good? Bad? Awful? Stop and do something to harm myself? Remember to rate and review and tell me how I'm doing.**

**~*~EDIT: I was rereading this to check for mistakes and decided to rewrite some of it. I didn't like how some of it was written and I didn't want to add too many new issues and whatnot in right now.~*~**

**Kthxbai**

**~Wildfire**


	9. Chapter 9

_Chapter 9: Some Shocking Realizations _

_Christina/White's POV_

"Should we shower tonight, or tomorrow?" Black asked as we sat in our room on our beds. We had unpacked our clothes and whatnot, seeing as though we were going to be staying for a while.

"I dunno. I think we should get in the habit of showering at night, since we're gonna stink by the time we get back every day," I said, pulling my shirt up to my nose and sniffing it.

"Urg, most defiantly shower at night," I said, dropping the fabric in my hands quickly. Black laughed, so I took my hat off and threw it at him. It missed and landed on the bed.

"Because I'm sure you smell like fresh laundry," I grumbled, scowling at Black, who was currently rolling around on the floor. He stopped abruptly and sniffed his shirt before turning slightly green. I snickered.

"Yeah, you're right. We should shower at night. On that note, I'll go get in the shower," he said, standing up and gathering his stuff before disappearing into the bathroom attached to the room.

I stroked Purrloin absently as I considered what to call my other Pokémon.

_'__I should go with a theme, like food or candy bars. Maybe I'll name them all after places…hmm…Oshawott and Lillipup…'_

I decided I'd decide later and wrote a quick note to Black, telling him I went to deposit Purrloin and call my mom.

I recalled Purrloin and stepped into the hall, leaving my hat on Black's bed. I dialed Mom's number on the Cross-Transceiver and she picked up on the third ring.

"Hi White! How are you doing sweetie?" Mom asked right away.

"Hi Mom. I'm doing great-Black and I are in Striaton City now," I replied, smiling.

"That's good to hear, honey. You'll be challenging the Elite Four before you know it!" she said, laughing. I smiled at the screen.

"Hey Mom?"

"Yes?"

"I caught a Purrloin today and he doesn't really like to fight, so I was wondering if you wanted to take him in as a pet," I said in a rush.

"Sure! I've always wanted a Pokémon like that, but the shops are so cruel to them that I couldn't stand buying one from them. And you were too young to leave so I could go catch on. This one sounds perfect. How'd you catch him?" Mom said, smiling.

I recounted the story of how Oshawott and I fought off the group of Pokémon harassing the Purrloin and how he agreed to be caught. My mom was listening intently the entire time.

"That sounds like a great way to catch a Pokémon! I'll be happy to take him in," she said, smiling.

"Great. I'll call the professor from the PC before I send him over so she knows to get him to you," I said, smiling. At least he doesn't have to sit in the box.

"Alright. I'll let you go sweetie. Call whenever you get to a new town, or you just want to talk. I love you honey, stay safe!" Mom said, waving.

"Bye Mom, I love you too," I said, waving at the wrist before ending the call. I sighed softly in relieve before heading to the PC.

_Jake/Black's POV_

I opened the shower door, letting out a ton of steam, and grabbed a towel. I rubbed my hair briefly before drying off the rest of my body. I stepped from the shower and turned on a fan to clear the steam before I realized I'd forgotten to grab a change of clothes.

"Crap," I said, running a hand through my wet hair. Now I have to go out there in a towel. Oh well, White can deal.

I opened the door cautiously, peeping around the door. I saw the two Oshawotts on White's bed, chattering quietly. Patrat and Lillipup were on my bed, clamoring around. White was nowhere to be seen.

"Phew, dodged a bullet there," I said, stepping out and walking to my dresser. The Pokémon glanced at me before going back to whatever they were doing.

I pulled a pair of navy blue flannel pants and a black t-shirt from a drawer. I dropped my towel and pulled the pants on, sneaking a look over m shoulder to make sure White hadn't snuck back in as I tugged the shirt on.

As I was walking back to the bathroom, toweling my hair some more, I noticed a note on the bathroom door. I pulled it down to read it…

_-Black,_

_I've gone downstairs to send Purrloin to the professor and call my mom. If I' not back up by the time you read this, I'll be up soon._

_-White_

I nodded to myself as I read the note; sounds like something Christina would do. Her handwriting didn't change either, I thought with a smirk. Still barely legible doctor's scrawl.

I went back into the bathroom and put the note one the counter before hanging up my towel. I then proceeded to brush my teeth and comb my hair. It's a lot thicker than _my_ hair, softer too.

I was in the middle of cleaning up the bathroom when I heard the door open and close. Soft footsteps approached the door to the bathroom, paused, then walked away.

_Christina/White's POV_

I sat on my bed watching the Normal Types chase each other around Black's bed. Lillipup had just tackled Patrat into a pillow and the two had set to work on shoving all the pillows off the bed. Soon enough, Black walked out of the bathroom, hair damp and disheveled.

"Nice 'doo Blackie," I giggled. It was sticking up every which way and didn't want to lie flat.

"Ha-ha, real funny," he said dryly.

"It's hilarious," I said, smirking.

"Go shower White," he said, plucking the pillows off the floor. I rolled my eyes at him and gathered up my shower stuff and a change of clothes.

As I shampooed my hair, I wondered how we were gonna keep our Pokémon clean. We could always bathe them, but what do we do when we get Fire and Electric Types? They will both end up hurting themselves and others.

Meh, we can cross that bridge when we get to it.

I rinsed my hair and turned the water off. I opened the door, grabbed a towel, and dried myself off before stepping out. I pulled a pair of flannel black and pink pants on and a white t-shirt.

I shut the light of as I left the bathroom and walked over to my bed. I hopped back onto my bed and tossed a pillow at Black, who was reading the book I brought.

"What did you think of now?" he grumbled, unsurprised. I smiled softly, remembering all the times I'd come out of the shower back home and throw a pillow at Jake's head before launching into sudden questions/random uncoverings.

"Several things. Like, Pokémon hygiene," I said, stroking Lillipup's silky coat. Our Pokémon has since joined us on our respective beds and were dozing contently.

"Geez Blue-Hair, what is it with you and making sure things are clean?" he groaned, turning a page in the book.

"Minor OCD showing its self and how my mom raised me," I responded automatically. All of these conversations started this way, words varying depending on topic.

"Ok. So we can either set days to bathe them or bathe them as necessary. When we get Fire, Electric, Rock, Ground, etc. Pokémon, we can get a washcloth damp and give them a sponge bath of sorts. We'd need to pick up rubber gloves for this, obviously," Black proposed, looking at me over the top of his book. I nodded, mulling over the suggestion.

"I think a combination of both would be a good idea. Now, what are we gonna do about stuff 'we' should know, like birthdays, the date, what happened to our missing parents, stuff like that? We can't ask my mom or your dad-they'd know something was up. Same goes for Bianca and Cheren," I said, lifting Lillipup onto my lap and checking his fur for ticks and the like.

"Oh crap, what are we gonna do?" he asked, putting the book down and raising his hazel-brown eyes to mine, "What are you doing, by the way?"

"Checking Lillipup for fleas, ticks, and the like," I said, looking back down at the little dog in my lap. Hmm, he looks kinda like a Yorkie…York…New York…Yorkshire…

"I know! I'll call you Yorkshire!" I exclaimed suddenly, picking up the puppy and holding in front of my face. He blinked sleepy black eyes at me, yawning.

"What?" Black asked, looking at in confusion. I laughed, putting Yorkshire back on my lap.

"Sorry, mind wandered. I was thinking he looks like a Yorkie, and my mind wandered off and gave me Yorkshire," I said, rubbing the back of my neck. Black rolled his eyes and shook his head at me, muttering something under his breath.

"Anyways…what are we gonna do about the whole not knowing stuff?" I asked.

"Gimme a minute and let me think," was the reply. I returned my attention to Yorkshire's fur, trying to think up a name for Oshawott.

"We can always just wait until someone mentions something about a birthday. Like, 'Hey, what did you get Cheren for his birthday in a few days?' or, 'When and where do you want to meet for your birthday tomorrow?' For the date…we can always look at a newspaper or something," Black proposed, making me glance up. I nodded thoughtfully.

"Sounds flawed. It should work," I said, grinning wryly. Black chuckled dryly, remembering all the flawed ideas we had back home that we did anyway. Let's just say they worked, but we had a huge mess to clean up.

"On a lighter note, you gonna nickname your Pokémon?" I asked, now stroking Yorkshire. He reminded me so much of my dog back home when he was little. He's now grown to the size of a Stoutland.

"Hmm, I'm thinking of naming them whatever fits," he said, pulling his Oshawott into his lap.

"Sounds good," I said with a nod, "I'm thinking of naming them after places."

Black nodded.

"What other Pokémon are you thinking of catching?" he asked, rubbing Oshawott's belly.

"I'm going to get a Petilil-either through trading or catching-like I do every play through. I think I'll try to find a Tynamo and Meinfoo as well," I said, naming three good Pokémon.

"What're you gonna do for your Flying Type?" he asked.

"I'm not going to use one," I said simply, causing Black to gape at me.

"Then what're you going to do for your sixth?"

"Reshiram if this is Black, or some other Legendary if it's not. I may even replace Yorkshire in the end for Reshiram if I get something like a Gothitelle or Victini. I dunno, spot number six is still up for debate."

Black mulled this over for a moment before nodding.

"You can have Victini if we can get it. I prefer stuff like Chandelure and Simisear. I want the Weather Trio though," he said, causing me to grin. We didn't even have our first badge, and we're talking about final teams and the breakup of Legendaries.

"Rotom's yours then. Anyway, what are you thinking of getting?" I said, shifting Yorkshire off my lap and putting him on a pillow.

"Pansear is a definite, along with Sawk or Throh. I'm also thinking of picking up a Deerling, Blitzle, and Rufflet. I'll probably replace the Fighting type for Kyurem," he said as I coaxed my Oshawott onto my lap. I nodded, thinking of the teams we'll have. We're sure to sweep everything, although Black's Pokémon will look like underdogs.

"Nice. So you're going to be power leveling before the Elite Four and replacing Patrat," I said, motioning to the dozing Normal Type. He nodded, looking regretfully at the tiny Pokémon.

"Pity, Watchog is a very good supporting Pokémon," I said, rubbing Oshawott's back soothingly as she started to squeak.

"Yeah, but he'll be useful up until I replace him. Have you ever beaten this game with Watchog anyway?" he asked, switching his Pokémon to give Patrat some attention.

"I have, as a matter a fact. Hardest play through I ever did, since I Nuzlocked the game and started with Snivy," I said, thinking back to the disastrous Nuzlocke. I was so used to sacrificing Pokémon in the Elite Four rights that it proved harder than I had thought to beat them. I was so happy I had power leveled every Pokémon to level 55 before starting the endgame.

"Ooh, ouch. How many did you lose?" Black asked, flinching in sympathy. I grimaced, recalling every one of my fallen partners.

"Far too many. I stopped keeping track after I think it was twenty. It really sucked since most were lost due to poison or 1-hit KOs," I said sadly. Part of the reason I didn't use Sewaddle or any of its evolutions it because of that Nuzlocke. I lost my Leavanny Kiwi to Clay's Excadrill in a particularly horrible way. I could almost see the blood gush from the pixilated Pokémon when the Horn Drill hit.

"Double ouch. Did you manage to hang on to your starter?" he asked, light brown eyes flickering with empathy.

"Barely," I replied tautly, "Did you Nuzlocke this game?"

"Yeah…with Tepig," he said unhappily.

"Bad?"

"Dreadful. Skyla forced Marla the Simisage out of her Pokéball and then slaughtered her before I could do anything," he said, dropping his head dismally. I flinched in sympathy; she nearly did the same thing to Vavabean the Serperior.

"Well, enough of our Nuzlocke loss pity party! Either we discuss something productive or we go to bed!" I cried suddenly, waking Oshawott up out of her doze.

"Well, I got nothing."

"Same here…"

"Well, night Chris."

"G'night Jake."

I crawled under the covers, tucking Oshawott next to me securely. Yorkshire was dead asleep on the pillow, so I shifted it carefully so I wouldn't roll on top of him. Black flicked the light off before climbing into his bed.

I sighed softly as I relaxed, getting ready to slip into sleep. However, after about a half hour, I was thoroughly annoyed. There was a vague itch at the back of my mind, moving whenever I focused on it.

Once I had located where it originated, very vivid pictures and what seemed like memories flashed through my mind.

_I was looking down at a younger version of Bianca, who was giggling and running away from a smaller version of Cheren-minus the glasses. I looked to my left and saw a younger version of Black grinning at me from a neighboring tree. The bark of the tree I perched in chafed against the inside of my thighs-I apparently had loved short shorts for a long time-and the branches poked at my bare forearms. _

_Black was wearing longer shorts and a black t-shirt that was a mirror image of my white one. Cheren wore dark blue pants and a red tank top, and was catching up to Bianca rapidly. Bianca was slowed by her orange and neon green dress._

I gasped and tried to sit up before being rammed with the next memory struck without luck.

_Black and I were lying on our stomachs beside Bianca and Cheren, playing a four person fighting game. My character was fighting against Bianca's while dodging attacks from Black. Cheren's was tag-teamed in the first thirty seconds._

_Suddenly all the lights shut off, causing Bianca and I to scream and clutch each other in terror. Power outages were rare and we'd only had one in our ten years of life._

_Cheren sighed and went to get some flashlights and a bored game while Black coaxed us to the window to show us the storm._

_"__It's no big deal guys. Zekrom's just mad at Reshiram," Black said, his ten year old voice high with nervousness. I giggled while Bianca managed a watery smile._

Oshawott stirred sleepily, rubbing her eye and stirring me out of that memory and shoving me into the next.

_It was mid-summer and Bianca, Black, Cheren, and I were at the river on Route 1. Parents of the town always let their kids out in the summer to swim, even though no one had Pokémon. We thankfully made enough noise to keep the timid Pokémon away._

_Bianca was sweating heavily as she removed her socks and shoes alongside Black who was grumbling about the heat. Cheren rolled his eyes, crossing his legs and tipping his head back to the sun. I sighed and tugged my hat off._

_We were trying to outlast each other and see who would give in and jump in first. Cheren typically won these kinds of contests, but this time I was determined to beat him. He had already lost his coat, but not his shoes. I had only lost my hat._

_After about ten minutes Black gave up._

_"__Screw this. I'm going in," he said, removing his shirt and hat. He ran his hands through his sweat-damped hair and took off at a run towards the water, cannon balling in. He popped up a second later, cheering._

_"__C'mon you guys! The water's great!" he shouted, tipping over backwards and making a huge splash._

_"__Ok Black!" Bianca cried, removing her shirt and skirt to reveal her bright orange bathing suit. She raced into the river, tripping in and nearly landing on Black._

_"__Bianca, be careful!" I shouted, half concerned. _

_"__Not going in, White?" Cheren asked, looking at me over the top of his glasses._

_"__Nun-uh! I gotta beat you for once!" I cried. The black haired teen merely arched an eyebrow at me before laying back again. I sighed, kicking off my boots and sock._

_Twenty minutes later I finally succumbed to the heat and stripped off my vest, shorts, and shirt. I ditched the contest and sprinted towards the river, jumping in._

The shock of the cold water, even in a memory, was enough to pull me back. It was not, however, enough to keep me from being pulled back in.

_"__We're getting our Pokémon in tomorrow, you guys! Let's go on one last adventure together before we split up!" Bianca said earnestly, grabbing our hands. Black nodded vaguely, turning a bit pink while Cheren just rolled his eyes. I nodded in agreement before removing my hands._

_"__Ok! Let's go into the woods and see if we can find anything cool!" Bianca cheered, jumping up and down excitedly._

_"__Wait, we shouldn't go alone. There could be dangerous Pokémon out there and we don't want to get stuck alone," Cheren said, making Bianca stop jumping about and frown._

_"__Well then let's spilt up," I said simply, leaning against the wall of a near-by house._

_"__Ok, sounds good," Black said, mimicking my pose, "I'll go with you. Cheren can go with Bianca." The two nodded in agreement before setting off. Black and I headed in a different direction, entering the woods a bit away._

_A little while later, Black and I were in the middle of the woods._

_"__There's nothing new here! We've combed these woods for interesting things for years! What did Bianca expect to find anyway?" I complained, flopping onto the ground._

_"__I dunno White. But there's something over here," Black said, tugging at my arm._

_"__Huh? What's this?" I asked, walking alongside Black down the unfamiliar twisty path._

_"__No idea, let's follow it," he said._

_We__came into a clearing that was surrounded by willow trees, the ground decorated with soft grass and wildflowers. There was a soft yet menacing pure white light coming from the center of the clearing, which was oddly circular. _

_"__What's that?" I asked Black, knowing that he probably didn't know either._

_"__I don't know. Let's check it out," he said. Weird thing was, his came from the light and beside me. _

_"__It could be dangerous," I heard myself said. A female voice on the other side of the light said the same thing at the same time, freaking me out._

_"__Come on, let's go! We'll never know unless we try!" the two male voices said. _

_"__Oh, alright," the voice from the light and I said together._

_I turned to my left and saw Black, looking as confused as I was. _

_Despite our confusion, we both walked forward through the light and immerged in a new clearing in the woods. This one looked very similar, yet different for some reason. Before I could place it, the clearing faded to white and then to black._

I gasped as I shot up into a sitting position in bed, clutching my head. Oshawott stirred beside me, rolling over into the war spot I left. I glanced over at Black and saw him in a similar position, eyes wild and breath short.

"W-what did you see?" I stuttered, throat dry.

"Flashes of what I'm guessing to be memories. They must be the real Black's," he said uncertainly.

"Same here. The memories must have been locked deep in the real Black and White's subconscious. Something must have triggered them," I said, clearing my throat.

"Yeah. I think we now know the answer to our earlier questions," he said wryly. I grinned dryly, nodding.

"I hope so. Quick, when's your dad's birthday?" I asked.

"The 18th of May," Black said, "Why?"

"Now when's the real Black's dad's birthday?" I asked, ignoring his question.

"The 23rd of July," he answered without hesitation, "Why?"

"Think Black, think! If you could answer both questions, then we know that you have both your memories and the real Black's!" I exclaimed. His eyes widened in realization.

"When's your mom's birthday?" he asked instead of answering.

"January 2nd," I said.

"And White's mom?"

"May 14th."

We sat there for a few seconds, processing the information. I chewed my bottom lip as I thought-a habit I don't remember picking up.

"We should ask each other a different question each morning and at intervals throughout the day. That way we'll know if we're both still here," Black said. I nodded before adding my bit.

"Sounds good. The facts should be something that we should know-birthdays and memories and stuff. But after a month or two can we stop? We'd run out of questions to ask and if we're not back in two months, I don't think we're ever going back," I asked, somewhat sadly. I was torn, to be honest. A big part of me wanted to stay-the part that's loved Pokémon since I was seven or something. But another part wanted to go home to my parents, little brother, my friends, my fellow fangirls, my Tae Kwon Do friends, my upcoming black belt test, school and all my classes.

"Sounds like a plan," Black said. I nodded in response.

"You think we're ever gonna get back?" I asked. He looked thoughtful for a few seconds.

"Hm, I don't know, maybe. Probably not though," he said. I nodded.

"Yeah, I mean, the real Black and White would have to have the same screwy pizza we did before crashing on your couch after playing Pokémon for hours. I highly doubt that's gonna happen," I said, getting a laugh out of Black.

"Yeah, since they'd have to make the same pizza we did and eat the last slices two days after cold," he chortled.

"Oh gosh, we did eat the last few pieces, didn't we? Whoops, looks like we're not going home!" I said with a laugh.

"Oh well. At least we got the better end of the deal."

"Yeah! We get to go on a journey with Pokémon and they get stuck in the normal, boring world, going through high school!"

We laughed for a bit before our giddiness left.

"I don't know about you, but I'm kinda gonna miss our world," I said, leaning back against the wall. Black nodded in agreement.

"Yeah, same here. No more science experiments, no more making fun of our teachers, no more goofing off with our friends, and no more Tae Kwon Do," he said, a faraway look in his light brown eyes. I nodded, casting my eyes down.

"No more fangirling in study hall, no more animation class, no more chocolate, no more Drarry feels, no more shipping, no more Tumblr, and no more fanfiction," I replied, ticking off some of the things I'd miss. My reasons made my best friend laugh at me, so I threw a pillow at him.

"Hey!" he yelped when it hit his face.

"Sorry-oh wait, never mind. I meant to hit you" I said, laughing.

"Ok weirdo let's get to bed. We can't stay up all night gossiping like twelve year old Hufflepuffs; we have stuff to do tomorrow," he said, lying back down. I followed in suit, flicking off the bedside lamp I didn't realize I turned on.

Oshawott snuggled up to my belly, snoring softly. I smiled to myself as I drifted off, feeling much better about my situation.

_End~_

**A/N: Oh gosh, this was longer than normal again. Oh well, it was a good place to end-with all the fluffy, happy feels and whatnot.**

**Next time, we stalk after our main characters as they troll around the city before hooking back up with Bianca and Cheren. I'm pretty sure they'll get into some shenanigans along the way.**

**As per usual, your feedback is greatly appreciated. Let me know how you're doing, anything you want to see, etc, etc. **

**Kthxbai**

**~Wildfire**

****EDIT** Someone pointed out that my rough draft for chapter eight got added to this. So I took it out. **

**Shit that was embarrassing. Well that's what I get for letting it stew for months on end, I suppose.**

**Whoopsidaisy.**


	10. Chapter 10

_Chapter 10- Trolling in the City_

_Jake/Black's POV _

I sighed as I woke up and rolled over, nearly crushing my Oshawott. Sunlight was streaming in the window and the clock said it was 9:18. Once again, I was the first awake.

_'That makes three times in a row. Chris owes me waffles,'_ I thought with a grin, sitting up. Christina's family makes the best Belgian Waffles, and it seems to be their mission to give everyone a waffle iron. Pity it wasn't with her when we came here.

Patrat climbed onto my lap and poked at my stomach until I pet him, pushy Pokémon. I sit there with Patrat in my lap, mind wandering. I flip through names, trying to find one for mine.

"Name him Snarry," White said, sitting up in her bed.

"Pardon?" I asked.

"Name Patrat Snarry," she said, running her fingers through Yorkshire's fur.

"Why?"

"Because Snarry is a crack pairing and Patrat are like Rattata on crack!" she said, grinning wildly. I sighed, rolling my eyes.

"You have got to be kidding me," I groaned, shaking my head at the fangirl. Patrat looked up at me, blinking questioningly.

"Yeah, I'm just messing around," she said, laughing. I glare at her.

"Just for that, I might just name him Snarry," I said, making her stop abruptly.

"You're going to nickname the first Pokémon you caught Snarry because I was screwing around?" she asked with an undertone of laughter.

"Maybe. What do you think, Patrat? You want to be called Snarry?" I asked my Pokémon. He looked up at me and nodded, eyes solemn.

"Alright, Snarry it is!" I said happily. White burst out laugh, falling over and nearly landing on her Lillipup.

"Black, I don't know how to break this to you, but I think Snarry's gay!" she gasped through her laughter.

"Huh?" I asked, completely confused. Snarry gave her a weird look.

"Snarry is the ship name for Snape and Harry. So if your Patrat likes the name, then he could be gay," White explained. I shook my head at her.

"He might just like the sound of the name, White," I said with a sigh. She grumbled a bit and sat back up.

"Fine, be that way. I'm gonna get dressed," she said, hopping out of bed. She woke her Pokémon up as she made it before heading to the dresser and pulling out some clothes. She disappeared into the bathroom, leaving her confused Pokémon behind.

I got up and made my bed as well, letting my Pokémon sit on the blanket. I pulled some clothes out of the dresser and changed while White was in the bathroom. She walked out as I was tugging my black tank top on.

"Now there's a sight I didn't need to see so early in the morning," she said as she yawned, stretching her arms over her head. I bopped her on the head as she passed instead on answering.

She rolled her eyes at me as she sat down on the edge of her bed and tugged on her boots, the two loose strands of hair hanging from her ponytail falling in her face. I pulled on my red sneakers before pulling on my hat.

"Alright guys, let's go get some breakfast," White said, standing up and tugging on her hat, pulling her ponytail through the open spot in back

"Before we do that, when's your dad's birthday?" I asked. Her blue-green eyes widened slightly before answering.

"September 16th."

"And your other dad?"

"March 18th. When's your dad's birthday?"

"February 19th. And my other dad's birthday is June 25th," I responded.

"Good. Now let's go get food," White said. I nodded, leaving my coat in room as I followed her out.

Our Pokémon followed us down to the cafeteria, which was much quieter than last night. Few trainers were there with their Pokémon, since they were there earlier and were out training by now. A quick glance at the clock showed me it was 9:43, giving us about an hour and a half to eat, wander around, and get back to meet Cheren and Bianca.

"Here, I'll take the Pokémon and find a table. You go get us some food," White said, pulling me from my musings.

"Sounds good. Snarry, Oshawott, go with White and listen to her," I told my Pokémon, who gave their respective cries in agreement.

"Ok guys, let's go over there!" White said enthusiastically, leading the five Pokémon over to a corner near a big window. I joined the short line to get food.

I picked up some breakfast sandwiches and berries without a problem, paying the lady before heading over to the corner White had pointed out earlier. I handed her a sandwich and a cup of chopped fruit in return for a bottle of milk she had bought.

"Time for breakfast guys," I said with a smile, pulling out bowls of food for my three Pokémon. Once all five had food, they pushed their bowls into one group instead of the two like last night.

_Shiny Oshawott's POV_

Once we had our food, Black and his female friend unwrapped theirs and began to eat. Osha was chattering away with Purrloin, who was chattering back. I sighed through my nose. _Females,_ I thought, were all the same. Chatty, giggly creatures.

"Did you hear what our trainers were talking about last night?" Yorkshire asked after swallowing a big bite. Snarry nodded, munching on his. I shook my head.

"I didn't, I wasn't paying attention," I said before putting a piece of food in my mouth.

"They were talking about what other Pokémon they wanted to get for their teams," Snarry said, waving his tail distractedly. I looked up to see some other Pokémon a few tables away giggling. I roll my eyes. _Females._

"Oh really?" I asked, eating another few bites.

"Yeah! My trainer wants to get a Petilil, Tynamo, and Meinfoo!" Yorkshire said, wagging his tail excitedly.

"Hm, sounds interesting. Wonder what else she'll pick up before the last few gyms," I said.

"She said something like a Gothitelle or Victini. I've never hear of a Victini though," the puppy said, ears drooping.

"I'm sure we'll find out what a Victini is soon enough," Snarry said, patting his friend on the head.

"So what's our trainer planning on getting, Snarry?" I asked. The Patrat looked thoughtful for a moment.

"Pansear, Blitzle, Rufflet, Deerling, and he said he'd either get a Sawk or Throh. I haven't heard of or seen a Rufflet, Pansear, Sawk or Throh before though," he said, nibbling on a piece of food thoughtfully.

"Pansear sounds like a Fire type. Rufflet, Sawk and Throh I have no idea about," I replied.

"Hey Osha and Purrloin!" Yorkshire yapped at the girls. They turned and moved over to join us.

"You females done gossiping yet?" I asked. Osha batted at my arm.

"Be quiet Oshawott! I haven't had another girl to talk to in _ages!"_ she cried. Purrloin chuckled.

"You were with that Snivy yesterday," she purred, a mischievous gleam in her green eyes.

"Yeah, but Snivy's all closed off. She's not as chatty," Osha said, popping some food in her mouth. Purrloin laughed while I exchanged a look with Snarry.

"Anyways, either of you know anything about a Pokémon called Sawk or Throh?" I asked. Osha shook her head.

"I've heard the name, but I don't know anything about them. Purrloin?" Osha said before turning to the cat.

"I do. They're Fighting Types that don't evolve. They're very strong, Sawk being stronger but Throh having more endurance," she said, blinking emerald eyes at the rest of us.

"I see. Know anything about Rufflet?" Snarry asked.

"I've heard it's a Flying Type that evolves into a much bigger and stronger bird, but other than that, no."

"What about Victini?" Yorkshire asked, blinking shiny black eyes at the cat.

"No, but since I don't I'm going to guess it's a Legendary," she said before dipping her head down to eat her food. I nodded before returning my focus to my food, ignoring the conversation around me.

_Yorkshire's POV_

Oshawott returned to his food after his questions we answered, ignoring the rest of us. If Snarry or Osha were put off by this at all, they didn't show it. I twitched my ear before nibbling at my food.

"So Purrloin, how do you know much about other Pokémon?" Snarry asked, putting a piece of his food in his mouth. Purrloin chewed and swallowed her mouthful of food before responding.

"I traveled around and have relatives who live in different places. They tell us about Pokémon in other places. Plus I listen to the bird Pokémon who pass through," she said before continuing to eat.

"Oh, ok. We didn't have a lot of visitors in our neck of the woods," Snarry said. I nodded in agreement, swallowing my last bite.

"We might want to finish quick; our trainers look about done," I said, looking up at White and her male friend, who were speaking intently in low tones.

Everyone murmured their agreement and began to eat with a fury. Oshawott filled my bowl with water using Water Gun so we could drink. I shot him a grateful look and lapped at the water before steeping back and giving Snarry and Purrloin a turn.

_Christina/White's POV_

"You really think it's gonna work?" I asked, brows furrowed. Black nodded, taking a sip of his milk before answering.

"Yeah, we just need the others to understand that there are three of them and four of us. It would be better if it was only me or only you, but we can make this work," he said, popping a bit of Oran Berry in his mouth.

"Mmm. I just hope they show themselves," I said, nodding.

"Oh, they will. So long as we walk in with our starters out, they'll be sure to pop up," he said. I ate my last bit of toast before draining the dregs of my milk.

"Alright, let's go wander. The city seems different and bigger than in the game, so they're could be some cool stuff around," I said, standing up and turning to our Pokémon.

"You guys ready to go?" I asked them. They gave cries of agreement, jumping around.

"Mind picking up their bowls while I send Purrloin to the Professor?" Black asked.

"I got it. Yorkshire, return," I replied, calling back the Lillipup. Black returned Snarry and the Purrloin, letting Oshawott walk beside him as he went to the PC.

Oshawott stacked the bowls while I tossed our trash out. I then picked up the bowls in one hand and my Pokémon in the other before heading back to the room. There I washed the bowls and dried them in the sink before picking up my bag.

"Ready to go, Oshawott?" I asked her. The little Pokémon began to hop around excitedly. I laughed and called out Yorkshire.

"Alrighty you two, let's go," I giggled as they began to chase each other. I scooped up Black's bag and locked the door behind us.

"Hey Black, got your bag," I said as we found him. He was standing near Nurse Joy, looking around.

"Thanks. Ready to go?"

"Yup."

~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~

After about a half hour of wandering around, we were dead bored.

"Urgh, we have another half hour to kill and we've seen most of the sights!" I groaned, leaning against a nearby building. Black mimicked my position, looking at the ground.

"There has to be something we haven't seen," he said, adjusting his bag strap.

I looked around the bright, bustling street full of people from all walks of life. Children were running around and yelling, parents were buying food, and others walked from shop to shop. A curious little shop at the end of the road caught my eye; it had a wooden brown storefront instead of the bright plastics of the others. There were little trinkets and sparkly baubles in the window instead of clothes or goods.

"Hey Black, let's go check that out," I said, pointing at the shop. The brunette looked where I was pointing arching an eyebrow.

"Looks weird next to all the bright colors," he commented as we started to walk towards it. I nodded absently, watching our four Pokémon dart ahead.

"Well, who said weird was bad?" I asked with a dry grin.

"I never said that," Black replied evenly. Once we reached it, we loitered outside for a few minutes.

"You gonna go in or just stand there?" Black finally asked. I sighed and opened the door, walking in. Oshawott and Yorkshire stayed right at my heels as I wandered around.

I came to a stand with odd and unique necklaces and stopped so suddenly that Black and the Pokémon crashed into me. Yorkshire yapped at me while Oshawott just fell on her butt.

"Oi! Why'd you stop?" Black squawked.

"Lookit this," I said, tugging him over to the one that caught my eye. It was kind of like those cheesy 'Best Friends' necklaces, except they were like some deviant Yin-Yang symbol, with three instead of two.

"Look at what?" he asked.

"This!" I cried, pointing at the three. One was pearly white with a small, fiery red gem in the center of the curve. The second was jet black with an electric blue stone in the same spot. The third was a shiny grey with a pale yellow pebble. The red stone looked like it could have been taken from the volcano in Hoenn, the blue looked like it was taken from Chragestone Cave, and the yellow looks like it could be from the Orange Islands.

"They look like they represent-" Black began.

"Oh, you've found them! I just simply _love_ this set! Aren't they just the most wonderful pendants, my dears?" a middle-aged woman with pale green hair asked, appearing from mid-air. We gaped at her for a few seconds before responding.

"T-they are rather nice…" I said awkwardly. I was a bit taken aback by this random lady, to say the least.

"Oh, I just _knew_ I wasn't the only one who thought they were lovely! Would you two dears like to know what they mean?" she asked, taking our hands in hers.

"Uh…sure?" Black answered, phrasing it like a question. I glanced down at our Pokémon, who were peering at the green haired lady from behind out legs. They look terrified to say the least.

The lady launched into a tale, describing the legendaries of Unova. She then went on to tell us the story of how Reshiram and Zekrom had come from Kyurem and how Kyurem was rumored to be stronger than the Yin-Yang Pokémon.

"So centuries ago, a set of triplets-ancestors of this city's gym leaders-who were jewelers created these necklaces. The eldest made one for Reshiram, making the backdrop the purest white and placing a most beautiful red gem from the Hoenn volcano in the curve. The youngest made this on for Zekrom, using the deepest black for the background and placing the loveliest blue jewel from the Chragestone Cave in the curve. The middle brother made the final in honor of Kyurem, making it a silvery gray and placing a gem of the palest yellow in the curve here. The gem was rumored to come from where the Orange Islands currently stand.

"These necklaces have been passed down through families since they were created. I found them in my travels and have saved them for whomever I decided to sell them to. Since you two dears have been patient enough to listen to my tale, I implore you to consider purchasing them. I will sell you two dears all three necklaces for a total of 2,000 Poké," she finished, gazing at us with a faraway look in her eyes.

"What should we do? Should we buy them or leave her hanging?" Black asked in a whisper. I glanced from the lady to the necklaces to Black.

"I dunno. If this were the game, I'd pass this up until late. But since we're _in_ the game…" I muttered back. Black grimaced.

"Let's just split the cost. We'll run out of time if we debate this anymore," Black mumbled. I nodded, reaching into my bag and pulling out my money.

"We'll take 'em," I said louder so she could hear us.

"Wonderful! I'll go wrap these up for you dears! I'll be right back," she promised, whisking the necklaces away.

Black and I each counted out 1,000 Poké, our Pokémon venturing out from behind our legs.

"What should we do with them?" Black asked.

"I think that before we battle N in Nacrene City we'll offer him the first choice, since the one we get should match up with our respective Legendary. If he picks the black one, I'll take the white and you the gray. If he takes the white, you take the black and I'll take the gray," I answered after thinking about it for a bit.

"But what should we _do_ with them once that's been done?!" he asked.

"Wear them, what else?" I said, looking at him, arching an eyebrow, "They're not that feminine and you can always tuck yours under your shirt."

"But isn't that, I dunno, kinda weird and a tad fruity? I mean, these pendants are kinda girly."

"No, guys wear Yin-Yang type necklaces all the time. These seem to be based off that idea, so they're genderless. But the fact that you know and can correctly use the word pendant _is_ rather girly and fruity," I replied, smirking.

"It's not my fault! I spend too much time with you and Courtney!" he cried despairingly. I laughed at his despair, which made him look even more depressed.

"You had plenty of guy friends who you would constantly ditch us for! And you also hung out with Michael all the time!" I responded, still smiling.

"That makes it even worse!" Black groaned, dropping his head against my shoulder in despair.

"Hey, did you get shorter?" he asked suddenly, popping his head up.

"Noo-o-oo! It's not just me! I really did shrink!" I moaned, dropping my head into my hands. I was on the taller side back home at 5'5 and still growing, but here I seem to be a few inches shorter.

"You're not that short, maybe two or three inches smaller than before," Black said, patting me on the back. I made a sound like a strangled cat.

"Noo-oo…" I sighed. I take after my mom and her family-who are all uber tall. I'm not even kidding, my grandpa's considered short by his cousins and he's 6'1!

"Here you go dears! That'll be 2,000 Poké!" the lady said, coming back with a brown wrapped package. We handed her the money and she pressed the package into my hands.

"Thank you dears! Have a lovely day," the lady said, putting our money somewhere.

"You too," Black said, turning to the door. I made to follow him, but the lady's voice stopped us short.

"You two remind me so much of my son; so full of life and wonder, completely in awe of the world you live in. If you happen to meet him in your travels, tell him where I am and that he is always welcome," she said distantly. I turned back in confusion.

"You have a son?" I asked. She nodded, a faraway look in her eye. Then picked up a picture frame from a nearby shelve and held it out.

"This is my son. He was about three when his picture was taken, but it was the last time I saw him. His father ran off with him while I slept," she said. I took the frame and nearly dropped it in surprise. Black peered over my shoulder and gasped quietly.

"That's…" he breathed.

"…N as a child," I murmured. I kid you not; the picture looked exactly like N when he was young-or at least the human version of the fanart of him as a child.

"We'll keep an eye out for him, miss," I said, handing the frame back.

"Thank you dears. Good luck on your journey," she said, taking the frame and disappearing into the back. Black and I left quickly, nearly tripping over our Pokémon in our rush.

Once we were outside, we called our Pokémon back into their balls and set off at a good clip for the Pokémon Center.

"That was beyond freaky," I said as we dodged people. I had put the package from the lady into my bag in the shop so I wasn't worried about it getting stolen or something.

"Way beyond freaky. I though N's mom was dead or something," Black agreed, nearly running into another person.

"Same here. But it makes sense, what she said about Ghetsis taking N away in the middle of the night," I commented, jumping over a low stand instead of going all the way across the street due to the crowd. Black apologized to the owner before catching up.

"I can see him doing that. He probably had a real name too, but Ghetsis just got rid of it," he said. I nodded.

"The name N might just be the first letter of his real name. It's probably buried deep in his subconscious, and N is just what's left," I agreed.

"Wonder what his real name is…" Black commented. I shrugged.

"Hell if I know. Probably something normal, like Nathan or Nicholas," I replied.

"I can't see Ghetsis letting N's mom name him something weird like Nemo; but Nathan sounds likely," he agreed. We came to a stop near the center, where we could see Bianca and Cheren waiting.

"Ok, so we don't say a thing about the shop or N's mom, got it?" Black said. I nodded.

"Got it. Don't mention freaky green haired lady or the necklaces to Cheren and Bianca," I confirmed. We nodded before turning the corner and walking towards them casually.

_Cheren's POV_

"Where are they?! They're five minutes late!" I exploded, beginning to pace.

"There there Cheren, calm down. They probably got lost and are right around the corner," Bianca reassured. I continued to pace, running my hand nervously across the Pokéballs that contained my Purrloin and Snivy. Those two had been behaving odd recently; White was reading, Black wasn't, both were more observant, and they were both just acting…off. Out of character even.

Almost like two very different people had taken up residence in their bodies. Two people who knew each other. Two people who knew enough about them and us to get by.

"Bianca, have you noticed Black and White behaving odd recently?" I asked, turning to the blonde.

"No, but then again, we haven't seen much of each other. We've all been off doing our own thing," she replied, shaking her head.

"But that's exactly it! _We've_ been off on our own, but every time we bump in to one of them, they're always with the other!" I exclaimed, "Think back to the first day on Route 1. They strolled up together, laughing and chatting. I doubt they met as they left."

"You're right! When I battled Black on Route 2, White was with him! And they were together last night when we met them at the table!" the blonde cried.

"But it doesn't mean anything, right Cheren? They were always together anyway," she added after a moment of thought. I considered it for a moment; they were nearly always together when we were kids. They had been friends before Bianca and I came on the scene and was always sleeping over each other's houses.

"Yeah, but I always chalked it up to their parents being very close friends and having birthdays within days of each other," I commented. Bianca nodded, looking thoughtful.

"I always thought they stuck together because they're both missing a parent. And they parent that they don't have the other does. I always figured they were always together because they figured they were like siblings," she said, fixing her hat. I shrugged.

"I dunno, maybe I'm reading too far into this," I admitted, taking my glasses off to clean them.

"Hey guys, sorry we're late!" White called, coming around a corner with Black. Both looked like they had run to get here.

"Hi guys!" Bianca called, waving excitedly at them.

"You two are ten minutes late. Be happy we waited," I said, fixing each with a half-hearted glare. White rubbed her left arm sheepishly while Black grimaced.

"Sorry about that man, we got lost," Black said, looking apologetically from Bianca to me.

"See Cheren, I told you they were just lost!" the blonde said, smacking my arm playfully, "And here you were coming up with conspiracy theories!"

"Conspiracy theories?" the two brunettes asked, smirking at each other.

"What was he saying, Bianca?" White asked, a playful grin on her face.

"Just that you two were acting weird and stuff," she said, smiling.

"Psh, we're not acting weird," Black scoffed.

"Well, maybe we are a tad more excitable of the late. But I've chalked that up to getting Pokémon," White said, fixing her ponytail, "Anywho, let's go find the gym!"

Bianca agreed quickly, and soon the two girls had linked arms and had walked off down the street, chattering. Black had caught up and walked beside the blonde, joining in smoothly. My eyes narrowed as I followed them; I had been right, they _are_ acting weird. White had never spoken like she just did before, with the 'tad more' and 'of the late' or 'anywho'. I'm not even sure 'anywho' is a word!

I soon caught up with the others, joining in the conversation normally. I did keep a swift eye of both Black and White, ready to confront them about this later.

_Christina/White's POV_

I laughed as the four of us walked down the street, trying to push the odd little shop from my mind. I was only half focused on the conversation, counting on Bianca's chattiness to keep it going.

I had noticed Cheren looking oddly at Black and I earlier. Even as we were walking now, he was still looking at us like he was trying to read us. The small, paranoid part of my brain whispered that he might notice something's off, but I squashed it. Acting like I suspected something will definitely draw unwanted attention to my behavior.

"So where's the gym anyway?" Bianca asked. I looked around before shrugging.

"Dunno. It should be around here somewhere. Any ideas Cheren?" I replied, turning to the be-speckled boy. He pulled out a map and studied it.

"We should have passed it by now. The map says that it's within two blocks of the Pokémon Center," he replied, trying to find where we were on the map.

"We've definitely passed it then. I think we must have gone at least four blocks by now," Black said, looking around. I nodded in agreement.

"Four if not five," I agreed, freeing my arm for Bianca's and joining Cheren at the map.

"We're right in front of Miss Lindy's Second-Hand Shop, right here," I said, pointing it out to him, "So that means we need to go that-a-way and look for the gym symbol." I pointed back the way we came. Cheren nodded in agreement.

"Nicely spotted White," he said, folding the map up and putting it in one of his pockets.

"Alright! Let's go!" Black cried with unnatural enthusiasm, grabbing my hand in one hand and Bianca's in his other and dragging us behind him. I snatched Cheren's wrist as he tugged us off, a half annoyed, half amused expression on my face.

"We don't need you to guide us Black. We can walk fine on our own," I called with a grin.

"Yeah, but we passed it last time you two girls were leading. Mine turn to lead!" he called back, grinning wildly. Bianca giggled, allowing herself to be pulled along.

"Did you let him have coffee this morning?" Cheren asked.

"No, I gave him milk. I don't know why he's so hyper," I answered, looking back at him. He shrugged in response.

Soon enough we came to the gym and Black let Bianca and I go. I dropped Cheren's wrist and massaged my sore right hand. Black's got a grip of iron and it nearly crushed my hand.

"So are we gonna go in or just stand here?" Cheren asked after a bit.

"Go in, obviously," I said, walking up to the doors and opening them.

"C'mon! We don't have all day you guys!" I called, waving them through. Black walked through last, waiting for me as I shut the door.

"Cheren's watching us," he breathed in my ear as we went to join them.

"I know. Act normal," I breathed back, barely moving my lips. No sense alerting Cheren that we're on to him.

"So where's the leader?" Bianca asked, looking around. We were standing in a small waiting area, much like that of a restaurant. The carpet was a deep plush maroon, so thick and soft that my boot sank into it slightly. The walls were stained wood with gold trim. Soft armchairs lined the room, and a small podium sat near the door leading into the rest of the building.

"Nevermind the leader, where are the people?" I asked.

"Sorry to keep you waiting!" a high feminine voice called. A blonde girl about a year or two older than us stepped into the room, smiling apologetically. She was wearing straight leg black slacks, a button up top much like what Cilan, Chili, and Cress wear, and a black vest with gold buttons over it. A white apron was tied around her waist and a hot pink bowtie was around her neck.

"It's not problem, really," Bianca said, smiling at the girl.

"My name's Cameron and I'll be your server today," she said. I then noticed her eyes, which were nearly the same shade as her bowtie. A little unnerving, to say the least.

"Server? We're here to watch some gym battles," Cheren said, confused.

"Oh! You don't know? The gym doubles as a restaurant! Since you four came for the battles, I'll see if I can find you a table near the battle arena," Cameron said with a little laugh, turning and disappearing through a different door.

"Looks like we're killing two birds with one stone here," Black commented, flopping into a chair to wait.

"Aye. Lunch and we can observe the leader battling. Maybe we can talk to him or her a bit," I said, sinking into another seat. Bianca perched herself in the chair between us, while Cheren sat beside me.

"I wonder what the leader is like," Bianca said, crossing her ankles and leaning back, "Are they nice, or are they cruel?"

"I highly doubt a Gym Leader would be cruel Bianca. The champion wouldn't allow them to lead if they were mean and harsh to people or Pokémon," Cheren said with a sigh.

"Well then Mr. Smarty-Pants, what do you think the leader is like?" Bianca asked, turning to the be-speckled boy. He moved his glasses up his nose a bit before answering.

"I think it's pointless to wonder, since we'll be meeting him or her soon," he said, glasses flashing. Black sighed and I rolled my eyes.

"Ok then buzz kill," I said, waving him off. Before anyone could respond, Cameron came back with a big smile.

"It's all set! Follow me and I'll take you to your table," she said, leading up into the main restaurant. We rose and followed her into the main dining room.

This room was very similar to the waiting area, except much larger and filled with tables. People sat around each circular table, chatting and laughing over delicious-looking food. I noticed how most of the patrons we teenage girls-which made me sigh internally.

Two other girls wearing the same getup as Cameron came over with smiles. One had ice blue hair tied back in a spiky low ponytail-except for two bits that stuck up behind her head like antenna. Her eyes were a pale blue, matching her bowtie. The other had purple-blue hair and pale yellow eyes, with a matching yellow bowtie. The front bit of her hair was tied behind her head, while the rest was worn loose, hanging down to her shoulders.

"These are the ones who requested a table near the arena?" the girl with purple hair asked, looking us over. Cameron nodded.

"Yes. I'm taking them to their table now," she said, nodding.

"Did you get their names, Cameron? I'm sure the leaders would like to know who's watching them today," the blue haired one asked, smiling at the blonde. Cameron smacked her forehead with her hand.

"Oops, I didn't," she said, making the other two sigh.

"Don't mind our sister, she's such an airhead," the blue one said apologetically.

"It's no problem," Black said uncomfortably.

"Anyways, my name is Sora, you've already met Cameron, and the one with blue hair is Crystal," the one with yellow eyes said.

"We're the gym leaders' younger sisters. We're triples," Crystal said.

"Cool. I'm White and these are my friends Black, Bianca, and Cheren. None of us are related though," I said, pointing at each one in turn. Each gave a little wave when pointed at.

"Good. Now that we all know each other, I'll show you to your table," Cameron said, leading us off, "You two get back to work."

He sisters made faces at Cameron before heading off. The four of us exchanged looks before following here. She led us to the back and through a door onto a balcony. The balcony overlooked a large battlefield, which was currently empty. There were four circular tables spread across the large space, each with a view of the field.

"Here you are! Since no one else has requested to sit back here, you get your choice of table," the blonde waitress said with a smile. Cheren nodded before walking off to the one with the best view. I followed after flashing Cameron a quick smile.

"Thank you!" Bianca trilled before following with Black. Cheren was standing near the table, looking at us impatiently.

"Hurry up would you?" he said, annoyed. I rolled my eyes and picked a seat on the right. Cheren plopped himself down next to me, Bianca on his other side. Black took a seat between Bianca and me, removing his hat. I tugged mine off as well, nearly ripping my hair out in the process.

"I hope there's gonna be a battle," Bianca said as she removed her hat. I put my hat in my bag before slipping it off and putting it on the floor.

"Same here," Black said, doing the same.

"Good morning you four! How are the next challengers doing this morning?" a happy male voice asked, clapping Cheren and I on the shoulder. I jumped and spun around to come face to face with Chili.

"We're doing fine, thanks for asking. Now, who are you?" Cheren asked. Chili let out a laugh and went to stand between Bianca and Black, facing the rest of the room.

"I'm Chili! I'm one of the three leaders of the Striaton Gym!" he cried, running a hand through his red hair, which stood up straight. Cheren's eyes widened momentarily before he nodded, while Bianca gaped at the older teen.

"Th-there're _three_ of you?! How're we supposed to get a badge if there're three leaders?" the blonde asked, looking worried.

"I'd imagine we'd fight one of them," Black said with a shrug. I nodded in agreement.

"The gentleman with the messy hair is correct! We decided who you'll be facing based on your starter Pokémon. So if you chose Snivy, you'd be facing me," Chili explained, leaning forward and propping his arms on the table.

"What if our first Pokémon wasn't a starter? Like if we had an older sibling who gave us one, like a Deino?" I asked. Cheren shot me a quizzical look before returning his attention to the leader he'd be facing.

"That is where our younger sisters come in! They help us run the restaurant, but they are also back-up gym leaders in case my brothers and I get tied up with something. If someone comes in with, say, a Deino, he or she would have to fight Crystal. If someone came in with something like a Roggenrola, they'd be fighting Cameron. If someone came in with a Timburr, they'd be put up against Sora," the red-head explained. As he was talking, Cress and Cilan came and stood on either side of Chili.

"Crystal trains Ice Types, while Cameron trains Fighting Types. Sora trains Flying Types. They take care of Dark, Dragon, Flying, Fighting, Normal, and Poison Types; types that would have had an advantage at this gym," Cress said, shifting his weight from one leg to the other. Cheren and I nodded in understanding, while Bianca began firing questions.

"Who're you two?" she asked first.

"I am Cress, and that green haired lad on Chili's other side is Cilan. We're also leaders of this gym," Cress responded.

"Do other trainers come through with different types as their first Pokémon often? Or are your sisters here as a precaution?"

"A bit of both, actually. In recent years we've noticed an influx of new trainers with types that we had no immediate counter for, typically a year or two after older trainers who look much like the new ones. We guessed that older siblings figured out this gym and gave their younger siblings Pokémon that we had no counter for so they could sweep this gym," Cilan explained, tripping over his words a bit. Bianca looked a bit concerned as he stumbled, while Cheren looked a tad annoyed.

"Sounds reasonable. I'd probably do a similar thing if I had a younger sibling and didn't know about your sisters," I said with a nod. Bianca then resumed asking question after question, and I tuned her out after a bit.

"Anyways, are we going to see a battle today?" Cheren cut in impatiently after a little bit. Bianca stopped firing questions and the here brothers exchanged a look.

"Well, we heard a rumor that some people would be stopping by today for a battle. When we heard Cameron lead you four in we assumed it was you guys," Chili said, looking from Cress to Cilan. The two nodded, leaving us confused.

"Then who's going to be challenging you guys?" Black asked, scratching his head in confusion. Cress shrugged.

"We don't know," he said.

"Well then," I said, "You mind if we call out Pokémon out?"

"No, we encourage it actually. We'll go grab chairs for them. How many Pokémon do you have collectively?" Cilan asked.

"Eight," Cheren said, reaching for his Pokémon. Cilan nodded, hurrying off with his brother behind him.

I let out Oshawott first, getting her situated on my lap before calling out Yorkshire. Both were thankfully able to perch on my lap while we waited; I was uncomfortable with putting them down. Too many play-throughs of various Pokémon games taught me that kids who put their young Pokémon down got them snatched. And I was _not_ at a level to be fighting through a base with one Pokémon to get the other back. We'd get massacred, I thought, flinching internally at the double meaning.

Black also kept his Pokémon on his lap; Snarry and his Oshawott were sitting quietly, looking around. Cheren, on the other hand, let his Pokémon climb off his lap and play about under the table with Bianca's. Snivy had opted to stay with Cheren while Porky and Bianca's Lillipup were both under the table.

The trio triad soon returned; eight chairs collectively carried between them. They set them so that we each had two chairs on each side, allowing us to keep an eye on them.

"Thanks," we intoned, placing a Pokémon on each side. My Oshawott, Porky, and the two Lillipups complained about the chairs, but hushed up when Chili gave them each an Oran Berry.

"Thanks," I said for Bianca and I, helping Yorkshire eat the berry.

"Not a problem, miss. May I be so rude to inquire your name?" Chili asked with a fake bow and huge smile. Bianca giggled and I smiled.

"But of course, sir. My name is White, and this is my good friend Bianca," I said, grinning.

"How do you do?" Bianca asked in a posh manner, holding out her hand for a handshake. Before Chili could respond, Cheren cut in.

"Alright, alright, that's enough you three," the be-speckled boy said, irritated. I rolled my eyes at Cheren, while Bianca gave Chili an apologetic look, withdrawing her hand.

"Anyways," Black said loudly. We turned to look at him and he pointed at a pair of trainers standing behind us, looking at us. A small boy stood behind them, mouth agape, staring about with curious blue eyes.

The small boy looked to about eleven or so, short dirty blonde hair peeking out from under his backwards green and gray hat. He fidgeted with his light gray bag strap, occasionally knocking the white strings of his green and white short sleeved hoodie. A pair of scuffed black, white, and green running shoes peeked out from his baggy jeans.

An older girl with lighter blonde hair tugged the younger boy up to stand next to her, her light blue eyes silently telling him to pay attention. Her bangs were held back with a plain clip, keeping them off her face elegantly. The sleeves of her purple shirt were rolled up, leaving her forearms bare. A brown belt with silver bags held up her straight legged jeans, which were capped with a pair of black, gray, and purple running shoes. Her glasses gleamed as she turned back to us, coolly examining our group. Her icy eyes lingered for a moment on Black's Oshawott, widening slightly. She looked from my Oshawott to Black's once more before leaning forward and whispering something in the other boy's ear.

The other boy's green eyes widened, looking to Black's Oshawott before sliding back and muttering to the younger boy. The green eyed boy's spiked up bangs flopped about with each movement, making them a little distracting. A faded blue and gray beanie kept the rest of his hair down. He tugged at the sleeves of his baggy blue and gray sweatshirt down, covering his black fingerless gloves. He scuffed his gray and blue skate shoes against the carpet, rustling his black jeans. He adjusted the strap of his brown and green bag before picking a Pokéball from his belt and tossing it up and catching it.

"So which one of you is the gym leader?" the older boy asked, eyes canning the group. I was staring at his bangs; they were rather distracting. I thought absently that this is what it must have been like for Skulduggery when Fletcher joined them, being constantly distracted by his hair. Only difference here was Fletch's hair is blonde, and this guy's hair is brown.

"That would be us," Cress said, moving smoothly to stand alongside his brother. Cilan stumbled a bit before continuing.

"So you must be the challengers we've heard about," Cilan said, straightening his bowtie.

"We are," the girl replied quietly, "I hope it's ok that my younger brother's also here to challenge you, since he's only eleven."

"That's perfectly fine," Cress said before either brother could reply, scanning the motley group.

"Which Pokémon did you guys start with?" Cheren asked, smiling at the three.

"Sabrina started with Snivy, Aaron started with Oshawott, and I chose Tepig," the older boy said, tossing his Pokéball up and catching it like a baseball.

"I thought Sabrina didn't want to go on a journey," Bianca said, confused.

"I didn't, but Aaron guilted me into it. He said if I didn't go now, then he wouldn't be able to go for another three years and I'd have to put up with his whining and sulking. I also wouldn't have had another chance until Aaron could get a Pokémon as well," the blonde girl-Sabrina-said quietly, fiddling with her bag straps, "Aaron also wanted to travel with Brendan, and Brendan wouldn't wait another three years before leaving."

"Basically Aaron and I sat Sabrina down and said, 'Look here girlie, you can either sit home in this little town and never do anything _ever,_ or you can tell the professor to send over three Pokémon and we can all leave together. Because I'm out no matter what, but Aaron's stuck here because he's eleven,'" the older boy-Brendan-said, flipping his bangs up.

"So Big Sis went over to the professor's and told her and the two were able to get me qualified to get a Pokémon!" Aaron said happily.

"Oh good. So who's first?" Chili asked eagerly, peering at the three trainers.

"Me!" Brendan and Aaron called at the same time, causing Sabrina to smile slightly.

"You go first Brendan," Sabrina said, tugging her younger brother back, "Aaron can wait."

"Excellent! Cress will take you three down to the battle arena and I'll tell someone to get a table ready for you!" Cilan said, clapping his hand once before scurrying off to the kitchens. Chili followed the green haired gym leader sadly while Cress led the three trainers down a side stairwell.

"Oh yay! We're gonna see the gym leaders battle!" Bianca said happily, petting her Lillipup absently.

"Bianca, watch this battle carefully. You'll have to face Cress soon, so you might as well learn how he fights," Cheren said in a teacherly fashion. He then turned to Black and me.

"You two watch Cilan, since you'll have to fight him," he continued, "He seems like the weakest of the three-or at least the least confidant."

"And you watch Chili," Black said.

"He seems to be the most battle happy, so be careful," I continued. He nodded, adjusting his glasses.

"Sorry for the wait you guys! Here's your menus!" Cameron chimed, handing us each two menus. She then placed a glass of water in front of our places and a bowl of water in front of each Pokémon.

"Take your time decided. Sora will be out in a bit to take your orders," the blonde waitress said with a smile before bouncing off.

I opened the second menu and began browsing the options for Oshawott and Yorkshire. There were dishes containing fish Pokémon like Goldeen and Magikarp-neither of which I felt bad for letting Pokémon eat. Magikarp are flipping _everywhere_ and Goldeen are just goldfish!

One dish that looked particularly interesting contained Magikarp and Krabby; and the little description said that Oshawott particularly enjoyed this dish. I made a mental note to order it for Oshawott, and then began to look for Yorkshire.

I ended up choosing a dish containing Pidove and an array of various berries. It looked like he would enjoy it, so I pointed it out to Bianca, who admitted to choosing the same one for her Lillipup.

"I just thought that Lilli would enjoy it, since she loves berries and all," the blonde said with a small smile, "She really liked the Pecha Berries I gave her yesterday."

This led to Cheren lecturing Bianca on the uses of each berry and how it was bad to waste useful berries like Pecha and Oran.

"Looks like someone spent his morning at the Trainers' School," I muttered, causing Black to laugh.

"Oh Black, did you see the Magikarp and Krabby dish?" I asked, leaning around Cheren's back to point out the item on the menu.

"No, I didn't. Looks good though. Pity Krabby are such good Pokémon," he said conversationally. I nodded absently.

"Yeah, but it like everyone and their mother has a Krabby in Kanto and Johto," I commented, flipping through the menu for people.

"Especially in Cianwood."

"Oh don't even get me _started_ about Cianwood."

"Don't forget Shuckle," Black singsonged. I glowered at him for a moment before returning to my menu.

"What are you two squabbling about?" Cheren asked, ending his lecture to Bianca, leaving the blonde to her menus.

"Oh, this and that," I answered airily, skimming the menu. I might just go for the salad; it looks really good.

"Food, mostly," Black added, turning his menu over, "Pizza looks good."

I shot Black a look, causing him to grin. I'm a bit of a pizza snob-do they even exist?-since my family makes pizza from scratch. I actually didn't eat lunch one day in second grade because I had gotten school pizza. (In my defense, I was seven and it tasted like cardboard. Ew.)

"The salad looks really good White," Bianca ventured, pointing it out on the menu. I nodded.

"Yeah, it does. I think I'm gonna get that," I replied, putting the menu down. Cheren nodded, scanning the menu.

"I think I'll get the grilled Basculin with mashed potatoes and green beans," Cheren said with a tone of finality, shutting his menu and putting it down.

"Well aren't you the fancy-pants," Bianca commented, "I'm torn between the salad and the smoked Goldeen."

"We can always come back another day," I said, flipping through the menu idly.

"We should come here every day we're in the city. Make it our little thing, lunch at the gym," Black added, nodding in agreement.

"And once we're able to use Fly, we can make it a weekly thing, like every Wednesday or something come here for lunch and just catch up," Bianca said, getting excited.

"Don't get ahead of yourself, Bianca. We might not even catch Pokémon that can use Fly," Cheren said, bringing her mood down.

"Oh course we will, silly! We might not always have that Pokémon on hand, but we will catch one!" Bianca said with an airy laugh.

"Besides, having a Pokémon with Fly is dead useful. You never know when you'll need to jet back somewhere that would take you a week to travel to," I said, closing my menu and putting it down.

"Sorry to keep you folks waiting!" Sora chimed, gliding up to the table, "Are you ready to order?"

"Yes, I'll have the Chef's Choice Salad please," Bianca said politely, handing her menu over. Sora took it with a smile, jotting down the order before looking up.

"I'll take the grilled Basculin with mashed potatoes and green beans," Cheren said, double checking his order before handing over the menu. The purple haired waitress wrote down the order before taking the menu, looking at me next.

"I'll have the Chef's Choice Salad as well, thanks," I chimed in with a smile, waiting as she wrote down my order before handing her my menu. She took it, turning to Black next.

"I'll have the smoked Ducklett with a side of spinach and mashed potatoes please!" he said with a large smile. He also waited until Sora had written down his order before holding out his menu.

"And for the Pokémon?" she asked, flipping to a different sheet.

"An order each of the Seafood Delight for the Oshawott," Black said.

"An order each of the Pidove Special for the Lillipup," I added.

"And an order for Purrloin," Cheren added. Sora scribbled down the orders quickly.

"An order of Mixed Berries for Tepig," Bianca said.

"And Patrat," Black added.

"And Snivy," Cheren finished. Sora smiled as she finished writing.

"You're orders will be ready soon. I'll send Cameron over with a bread basket in the mean while," Sora said, smiling briefly at us before she left.

"Oh good, we're getting our food soon," Bianca commented, "I was just getting hungry." I nodded vaguely, looking down at the gym arena, wondering when the battles would start.

"I think the battles will start soon, since Sabrina, Aaron, and Brendan need to be briefed on the rules," Cheren said, taking a sip of his water.

"I swear, it's like I have a thought bubble over my head that only Cheren can see," I said, "Because whenever I have a question, Cheren answers it when I don't say anything!"

"I think his glasses allow him to read our minds," Bianca replied.

"That's a good theory, and it would explain a lot," Black commented.

"I'm sitting right here you guys! Quit talking about me like I'm not here!"

"Did you hear something?"

"Not funny White!"

"I was just kidding!"

"Yeah, right," Cheren said, rolling his eyes. I stuck my tongue out at him, making a face.

"Can you two stop flirting for all of three seconds?' Black asked with a sigh. I huffed back, exaggerating it.

"Oh please, you wouldn't know flirting if it came up and punched you in the face," Cheren said, cleaning his glasses with the edge of his shirt.

"Here's your bread! I brought some snacks for your Pokémon too," Crystal said, walking up to us and placing a covered basket in the middle of the table. She then put some steaming biscuits on our Pokémons' plates.

"Your orders will be out soon, but in the mean time enjoy the bread!" she chirped before sliding off.

_End~_

**A/N: Son of a fuck. Holy fucking shit that took ages. I just couldn't find a stopping point, and the one I chose kinda sucks…but damn it I was edging on twenty five pages in Word! Fuck this.**

**Next time we shall view some gym battles and other shenanigans. And eat lunch. Yes. We shall eat lunch as well.**

**Sorry for the long wait! I got distracted and then lazy and then Sherlock and Supernatural happened and then I started shipping people in my gym class and then I got lazy again. Whoopsidaisy. **

**Heads up folks, there may be a long wait in between chapters. I haven't started chapter 11 yet (SHH!) and I'm playing that fun game where I train for my black belt whist studying for finals, working 2-4 times a week, and trying to finish Supernatural before November and Homestuck before August! I'll do my best to be timely, but don't get your hopes up.**

**Kthxbai**

**~Wildfire**


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